but we re doing everything possible. we are ready to repel the russian occupiers and prevent the capture of our cities. and prince harry speaks to the bbc about the invictus games, and what ukraine s presence there means. welcome to the programme. we re going to start by looking at russia s assault on ukraine from the air. they ve hit cities right across the country. including lviv in the west which had been one of the safer parts of ukraine. at least seven people were killed in the strike there and reports a child was among them. this is lviv s mayor. translation: what we see today in ukraine is genocide, which is purposefully committed by the aggressor who kills civilians. seven civilians had plans for life. today, their lives have ended. this is the aftermath of that missile strike. it reportedly hit military facilities and a car tyre service point in lviv. let s hear from our correspondent there, danjohnson who witnessed it. this is where one of the missiles hit t
our correspondents are standing by in ukraine with war refugees in estonia. we want to welcome our viewers from the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. i m wolf blitzer. you re in the situation room. captions by vitac www.vitac.com we begin with russia s escalating offensive in eastern ukraine as top ukrainian officials are confirming that the battle for the don baas region has begun. let s go right to our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto in ukraine for us. he is reporting from lviv. president zelenskyy is now speaking out about this new phase of the war. reporter: that s right. u.s. intelligence reported a major strategy shift by russia to stop focusing on its failed attempt on capture the capital kyiv and focus on the east and the south. we ve been seeing the forces move over the last couple of weeks. now they are there. and now that battle, though it never quite stopped there, but that battle intensifying to a degree we have not
good evening. one of the most prominent figures in american politics, the majority leader in the senate, has called for new elections in israel. chuck schumer says prime minister benjamin netanyahu has lost his way and accused him of pushing support for israel to new lows . mr schumer, a democrat, and the highest ranking jewish official in america, also called for the palestinian authority president, mahmoud abbas, to step down, saying a new generation of leaders was needed, to work towards peace . all this comes as the us imposed sanctions on three extremist israeli settlers in the occupied west bank, who ve been accused of harassing and attacking palestinians. the settler movement is controversial with many countries, including the uk, which sees israel as an occupying power, and the settlements as illegal. israel disputes this. west bank violence has surged since the start of the gaza war, triggered by hamas s attack on israel on october seventh. the us and uk have alr
pictures are from vladivostock. and let s bring you some pictures live from a polling station in moscow. now, there is the potential for a run off vote if no candidate wins more than 50% in the first round. but, with many of mr putin s opponents unable to run, it seems inevitable that vladimir putin will be re elected, without the need for that second ballot. our russia editor, steve rosenberg has more on the issues surrounding this election. these days, when vladimir ovchinnikov paints russia, the result is very dark. from a mountain of skulls and a dictator s ambition. to this russia s war in ukraine likened to stalin s terror. the 86 year old artist had taken his anti war message onto the streets of borovsk, graffiti ing, stop the war. all these paintings were scrubbed out and vladimir fined twice for discrediting the russian army. but he continues to speak out against the invasion of ukraine. translation: i believe that this is a crime against the territorial i integr