Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20240921

The number of identified russian fighters killed on the frontline in ukraine has hit 70,000 thats according to bbc research. While official statistics may be hard to come by, an investigation by Bbc Russia and the independent russian media outlet, mediazona, has been collating data and identifying dead russian soldiers since the beginning of the war with ukraine. Our analysis reveals volunteers are increasingly older men with lower incomes and are not surviving long in battle. 0lga Ivshina reports. The faces of russian fighters killed in ukraine are changed. Now, more and more men in their 40s, 50s and even 60s are volunteering for the frontline. 62 year old Rinat Khusniyarov was one of them. Before he volunteered, he had two jobs. Fighting for russia, he earned seven times what he did before. Russian authorities have repeatedly increased sign up bonuses to attract men like rinat. He died in february this year. We dont know where exactly, but thousands of kilometres away from his home in russia. Last month, russian forces faced a ukrainian offensive in kursk the first on russian territory. The kremlin claims this attack has encouraged more volunteers to sign up to fight. There are no official figures on the numbers of russians killed. So, since the start of the war, the bbc and its Partner Mediazona have been trying to build a picture of whats happening on the frontlines. We have been using photos of graves, Social Media posts and News Articles to uncover the scale of russian losses. So far, we have managed to verify that 70,000 russian troops have died since the start of the war. The recent figures also show that, for the first time, the largest group of men dying are volunteers, not regular soldiers or convicts, but men who have signed up after the start of the full Scale Invasion in february 2022. A study from the russian Ministry Of Defence, seen by the bbc, suggests that many of those deaths could be avoided with better first aid and medical care. They are fighting a battle where they are not prepared and might not have the needed equipment to fight. There isnt sufficient preparation and there are also Equipment Shortages or non existent equipment for which they have been prepared for those few limited weeks that they have done so. This graph shows how losses of russian troops were distributed since the start of the war. Moscow continues to use so called meatgrinder tactics, trying to wear down ukrainian forces. And volunteers now seem to be used at the most challenging parts of the Front Line. Our data shows that volunteers are now dying at a faster rate than in the first two years of the war. This spike in the number killed coincides with the russian offensive on avdiivka in the east of ukraine. It was one of the deadliest confrontations in this war. Having lost thousands of troops, russia was able to take the ruins of avdiivka in early 202a. As our count only includes deaths reported publicly, the true figure of losses is significantly higher. Asked for comment, the russian government did not respond. Early this year, ukraine acknowledged 31,000 soldiers had been killed, but estimates from the us intelligence suggest the number is higher. Moscow continues to push on, willing to exchange thousands of lives for small pieces of scattered land. 0lga Ivshina, bbc news. 70,000 is the number you have come up with and your research suggests some of these casualties could have been avoided, how . Casualties could have been avoided, how . , ~ , avoided, how . Yes, the Ministry Of Defence avoided, how . Yes, the ministry of Defence Study avoided, how . Yes, the ministry of Defence Study published avoided, how . Yes, the ministry of Defence Study published in i of Defence Study published in one of russias medicaljournal suggests from A0 A9 of all russian casualties died from injuries which could have been treated if troops on the ground had better medical Equipment And Betterfirst aid training. That is exactly what they are lacking as we have seen in the report, many are being sent to the Front Line after seven days, 1h days of training, and i dont get the Training And Preparation. I dont get the Training And Preparation i dont get the training and rearation. ~. , preparation. What impact has the war had preparation. What impact has the war had on preparation. What impact has the war had on russian preparation. What impact has. The war had on Russian Society with these men being away from home . ,. ,. , with these men being away from home . ,. ,. ,. , home . Very important to mention that as Russia Home . Very important to mention that as russia brings that as russia brings devastation to ukraine, this war is also affecting russia itself, Russian Society. Thousands of men have left their houses and went to fight, participating in this invasion, demographics is changing, Civilian Industry is lacking workers because everyone is joining the military or military production. We have seen also in the previous waves trying to get more people signed up, russian authorities turned to prisons and some prisoners served for six months and were released and back in society completely unprepared for that and some of them commit new crimes and go to the Front Line again. Front line again. How has this chanced Front Line again. How has this changed the Front Line again. How has this changed the perception Front Line again. How has this changed the Perception Of. Front line again. How has this| changed the Perception Of the war by the russian public . Bier . War by the russian public . Very hard to measure war by the russian public . Very hard to measure because war by the russian public . Hard to measure because russia is an authoritarian society and since the start of the full Scale Invasion of ukraine, russia has introduced draconian laws, suppressing freedom, many websites are blocked. Four people it is quite hard to get access to independent information. It is really hard to understand what people think. But what we see is people are trying to shut down, ignore the news, which of course is not helping anyone. The economic impact, how is that being felt . It the economic impact, how is that being felt . That being felt . It is another thing which that being felt . It is another thing which is that being felt . It is another thing which is a that being felt . It is another thing which is a bit that being felt . It is another thing which is a bit hard that being felt . It is another thing which is a bit hard to i thing which is a bit hard to measure. Sanctions are working, but they are not working immediately. People have seen the increase of prices, Western Brands leaving the Country, but it would not be correct to say they are struggling tremendously more than before the start of the invasion. But we see that the effects are slowly kicking in, industries are slowing down, the civilian part of production is increasingly lacking labour force, so this is coming but coming slowly so people are not feeling it that much. Maybe it is an objective of the kremlin. Thank you, 0lga Ivshina, Bbc Russian service. Almost 100 domestic Abuse Related Offences were recorded by police on average every hour last year. The new measure as part of a law in memory of a woman and her mother murdered by her estranged husband. 0ur Reporter has more. By her estranged husband. Our reporter has more. Reporter has more. Police emergency. Reporter has more. Police emergency, what reporter has more. Police emergency, what is reporter has more. Police emergency, what is the i emergency, what is the location . Hi. Um, ijust called the police about half an hour, more than half an hour ago, and actually, im in danger. My Ex Partner came, and he actually, um, harmed me and my mum as well. This is Raneem 0udehs call to 999 just hours before her death. Raneem made multiple calls for help in the hours before she and her mother were killed by raneems ex husband. She was on the phone to police while she was being attacked, but officers failed to get there in time. Raneem had previously made 13 separate calls for help to West Midlands Police in the months before her death. An inquest found multiple mistakes by the force which contributed to their deaths. Yvette cooper first proposed Raneems Law earlier this year, with plans for domestic abuse specialists helping in 999 Control Rooms. Now she says this will be piloted by some Police Forces to ensure victims get the appropriate response. Well begin with the first wave, making sure that there are domestic abuse experts in 999 Control Rooms. We saw when Raneem 0udeh called 999 four times on the night she was killed, no one came. We cannot let that happen again. So, well begin with the first wave. Then we want to roll this out right across the Country so that domestic abuse victims can know the police will be there for them when they call. The pilot has been welcomed by raneems aunt. Having specialists in 999 Control Rooms, it means that all the Police Officers, theyll be able to be handed the right documents, the right logs, and they will be able to do their work and they will be counted upon, which is really important. Now, in the future, were going to have other policy under Raneems Law. But most importantly, we need to save lives. We need to save those people when they first call us for help. From november, a second pilot will introduce domestic Abuse Protection orders in three Police Forces to strengthen powers already in place. Theyll cover all forms of abuse and have no cut off time. The Home Secretary says these measures are the first step in the Governments Commitment to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. Divya talwar, bbc news. The former victims commission for england and wales, first police and Crime Pensioner to put the policy into practice in northumbria police and crime commissioner. Thank you. Explain how the scheme came about as a pilot for your part of the Country. About as a pilot for your part of the Country. Yes, we were not happy of the Country. Yes, we were not happy with of the Country. Yes, we were not happy with the of the Country. Yes, we were not happy with the police not happy with the Police Response to domestic abuse. The local womens charities, particularly one, refuge, domestic abuse charities, they said so, and they were saying it is not specialists who go out, it is response beliefs. They have to be trained, and they are, but they dont all get it. We are the ones who understand and the suggestion was, cant we go with them when they attend an Emergency Call . In fact, that is exactly what we did in the first place. We had a car with a worker from Womens Aid and a Police Officer and a domestic abuse call, the first unit would go in case it was an emergency, then this car would go, the officer would say, will you speak to my friend from Womens Aid . That had a powerful impact in itself but it really wasnt that practical because of its a sort of analog response, really. Firstly, we couldnt afford it except in a few places at a few peak times. Secondly, we were not upstream enough. But the decision was, it was to put a worker permanently, on shift, not the same person all the time, into the actual Control Room so when calls came in, anyone who had a doubt about it, they could speak to a literal expert there and then. And as i think was just that on your film, documents can be available, options can be available. You have got two lots of expertise at once. And the idea was when officers who attended had taken out the heat of whatever was happening, they would try and contact the complainant directly, also with the person in the Control Room, so that you would be able to get that person taken into the charity that the individual worked for, and they were as a team, a good Charity Placement can follow. We did find, to be honest, really, the police were being a conduit to the Domestic Violence charities as well and they needed better funding because they had more people coming and that will happen again. But also the police got infinitely better, they knew who to rely on, they asked, they learnt, and actually, domestic Abuse Charity people also learnt the limitations of what the police can do. All victims full victims, it improved the quality of service and doubled the way they got input. I am delighted the Home Secretary has decided to take this on and roll it out further now. ,. ,. ,. ,. , this on and roll it out further now. ,. ,. , u , now. Great to have a Success Story for now. Great to have a Success Story for a now. Great to have a Success Story for a change now. Great to have a Success Story for a change to now. Great to have a Success Story for a change to share, L Story for a change to share, thank you very much for talking to us. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. It was a daring but flawed plan. 80 years ago this week, allied troops began what was the largest airborne assault of the second world war. The Battle Of Arnhem, in the netherlands, claimed the lives of more than 1,100 british soldiers and saw more than 6,000 captured. 0ur Correspondent John Maguire has met two veterans who fought in the battle. Thats what the germans give us. If you got killed, they used to break it in half and, you know, we used to sharpen it to use it as a knife, you know . Geoff roberts carries his prisoner of War Dog Tag in his wallet to this day. He was captured during the Battle Of Arnhem 80 years ago. Newsreel this is the story of that glorious yet tragic operation which, in mr churchills words, will take a lasting place in our Military Annals and will in succeeding generations inspire our youth with the highest ideals of duty and of daring. Building on the success of d day, the objective was to secure bridges and river crossings to allow a route for the allies into northern Germany And Force a nazi surrender before The End of the year. The sky over Northern Europe turned black with aircraft, punctuated by white parachutes. Hundreds of gliders were deployed. One of the last remaining members of the glider pilot regiment, peter colthorpe, explains why they were so vital. Youre very useful in the glider because when you land in a battlefield, you need guns, you need ammunition, you need. You Cant Parachute it down, its too heavy. And so thats what we do. So, if we teach you to fly a glider, then you fly over the battlefield and you can land with all the ammunition, with anti tank guns. So, i used to do that. Geoff was 19 years old and serving with the kings 0wn scottish borderers. He remembers the day his glider took off for holland, and the moment when they were hit by anti aircraft fire. Ive never seen so many aircraft in the sky at one time. Got a bit of flak going on the dutch coast, where he got bit up through his bum and one or two seats further up were knocked off the wall. Despite early success, the Battle Of Arnhem and the fabled bridge too far ended in defeat and withdrawal. Much debated in subsequent years, the Missions Failure has been attributed to poor planning, tactics, intelligence and underestimating the ferocity of the german defence. Geoff recalls the day two of his closest comrades were killed. They were aged just 2a and 25. That was chaos. It was absolutely chaos. Two mates were in the other trench with a gun, and brown called out, plumbers had it. And then there was another burst of fire and it went quiet, so obviously Brown Copped it then. Thank you for giving us the freedom its an important anniversary, commemorated each september by the dutch and the remaining few who fought for them. Geoff visited recently, taken across by the Taxi Charity for military veterans, and as always, paid his respects at the graves of the close friends he lost. Thats where im going to end up. With them . Yeah. Not for a while, though. Oh, no, im not in a hurry well, its the first place i go when we go to the cemetery, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, theres several other people that i knew, but these two, they were in my section. My hut, we was in a hut of 28 blokes, and we knew everybody. And just the way it turned out, i suppose, you know. They were your mates . Yeah. Peter has a field where the gliders landed named after him an honour hes been reluctant to accept. I tried to say, you cant do that, because i lived. But a lot of people died there. And, you know, youve got to visit there. Oh, yes. My son was killed. My husband was killed here. And its called a peter calthup field. And i said, you know, you cant do that, but they did it anyway. But i said, i told them i wouldnt go to the ceremony. Newsreel the nazis would have given a great deal to get the bridge back. The 80th Anniversary of arnhem marks an important milestone in the closing months of the war in europe. As the years pass, there are fewer and fewer with first Hand Experience of the events of 19114. But those that are able will continue to honour their fallen comrades for as long as they can. John maguire, bbc news, lincolnshire. A reminder we are waiting for a Press Conference due to start in london in around ten minutes time, if it has running to plan, where we are expecting to hear the legal team involved in the investigation conducted by the bbc into claims of Sexual Assault against the late owner of harrods, the Luxury Department Store in london, Mohamed Al fayed. The legal team are expected to share more details about the claim against the Department Store for allegedly failing to provide a Safe System of work for em ployees. Safe system of work for employees. We will bring you that as soon as we get it. Let us show you again the situation in budapest, the hungarian capital, where they are expecting the danube to peak around or slightly above 8. 5 metres in the city as a result of floodwaters being brought through this part of Central Europe because of Storm Boris. Almost reaching the parliament building. We are being called on to create a unique soundtrack of our lives. The idea is to unlock the soundtrack of our lives, particularly important for people with dementia. Sir Alex Ferguson has been speaking to our correspondent about seeing friends like Sir Bobby Charlton suffer with dementia and he describes his own efforts to keep his brain active. I heard you were punctual, but youre 25 minutes early. Im always early. Are you . Sir Alex Ferguson, thank you so much for talking to us on bbc breakfast. First of all, Hows Life . How are you . Good, yeah. Retired 11 years now, so you find a way of adjusting, you know . Keeping yourself out of trouble . Yeah, exactly. Missing the management or not really any more . Yeah, i miss it sometimes. I think my first year after i retired, we were in The European final, and i said to cathy, i says, this is what i miss, the big games, The European games. And so i go to most of the European Finals because i find something that i can relate to. You know, what id like to have done every day. Yeah. You know what i mean . Because these are the big events a club like united should always be involved in. So, you can watch them as an observer now and not. Yeah, exactly. Youre here today then to talk about national playlist day. So, this is encouraging all of us, whatever stage of life were at, to pick the tracks that sort of run a thread through our history. And then if dementia comes our way, theyre there as a sort of grounding for us. What is it about dementia that you think is important . Well, i think its a present Day Challenge for all of us, you know, and ive not got a great knowledge about the whole operation of dementia, obviously. But i think we know someone close to us who has got dementia, and thats a present Day Challenge, you know . Most of us will know somebody or a Family Member living with it. Absolutely, yeah. And when you look at the impact on some of the united legends, bobby charlton, denis law, nobby stiles, can you reflect on how it affected them as men . Well, you know, ithink the main bearing on it is theirfamily. I think were outside the door of it all. I mean, i was a great friend of bobby, a great friend of denis law. Nobby worked for me, you know. He was one of my coaches. So, therefore, when youre confronted with the knowledge of it, you know, what can i do . And of course, theyve great wives, fantastic wives, you know, and its. Theyve had to put up with all the burden of it. It takes its toll on the relatives, doesnt it . Yeah. So, do you think football is doing enough to play its part on research between the links between Football And Dementia and supporting former footballers . Well, i dont know where we are at the moment, you know, but i know that there is an interest. I know there is a care about it because we dont like to see it. Particularly when bobby. Bobby was very close to me and hes a wonderful man, absolutely superb human being. Can we hear some tracks from your playlist then . Lets listen to this first one then. Moon river. Moon river, wider than a mile. Wheres that one taking you . Well, when my old team come up from glasgow to visit me, theyre great guys, you know, and thats my song. But they dont listen to me. There was one time, honestly, i was singing away to it. Im in another world and my eyes are closed. Are these the lads from govan . Yeah, some of them, a couple of them were in nursery with me when they were three years of age, four years. Yeah, yeah. And they have been friends all my life. And they were my team in the old boys club, and theyre great people. Never change. You know, all married a long time. I was 50 years married. Most of them were 58, 60 years married. So i always sing that. Will you give us a quick blast now, then, of Moon River . No my son said to me, dont you dare sing. Im telling you, im walking out. Nice try, wasnt it . Now the weather forecast. After a recent spell weather forecast. After a recent spell of weather forecast. After a recent spell of Summer L Weather forecast. After a i recent spell of summer like Sunshine And Warmth for some of us, things are about to change, especially in the southern half of the british isles. The next few days, the threat of big showers and thunderstorms, quite cool and cloudy in the North East, but warm sunshine for the North West. Three distinct zones of whether through the course of today on the weekend as well. The rain filled accumulation between now and The End of monday, some areas could see 80 millimetres of rain, particularly east wales, the midlands, perhaps central and southern england, close to a Months Worth of rain on the way for some areas but not everywhere. Low pressure is starting to move on from the Bay Of Biscay across the southern half of england and wales, especially by sunday. Higher pressure holding on in the north. The rest of today, quite a lot of low cloud holding on for North East England And North and east of scotland. Forthe England And North and east of scotland. For the bulk of scotland, northern ireland, North West england, sunny spells. Furthersouth, North West england, sunny spells. Further south, the threat of big thunderstorms. 1623 threat of big thunderstorms. 16 23 for most of us. Sunshine holding on to East Anglia and the south east. Cooler along the south east. Cooler along the North East coast. The Low Cloud Will Drift further west tonight. Also another batch of showers moving into the far south. Another mild night for most with temperatures remaining in the mid teens. And the clearer skies in northern scotland, could get into single figures. Tomorrow, that cloud should then pray, sunshine, but the threat of heavy showers and thunderstorms, hail could be mixed in, midlands, wales, south west of england, most prone, but one or two elsewhere. Fine in between the showers and sunshine again in the north which will be the picture on sunday. Northern ireland and western scotland, sunny and warm. Cool and cloudy on the North East coast. Further south, showers and thunderstorms by sunday heavier and more frequent, could be frequent hail and lightning. Next week, things turn cooler, more unsettled, distinct autumnal and fairly windy spell of weather on the way. Goodbye for now. Live from london, this is bbc news. More women have contacted the bbc to say they were assaulted by the former boss of harrods late Mohammed Al fayed whilst working at the Luxury Department Store. Israel launches new strikes in southern Lebanon Targeting Hezbollah overnight, as the Groups Leader calls this Weeks Device explosions � a declaration of war�. More than 1,000 people in North Eastern italy have been evacuated, as Storm Boris continues to cause severe flooding across europe. We visit the city of springfield in ohio where some immigrants from haiti are worried about their safety, after Donald Trump wrongly claimed they were eating pet cats and dogs. Hello, im martine croxall. More women have contacted the bbc, saying that they were assaulted by the late Mohammed Al fayed when he was