now, we know a lot about what's happening in donetsk. how many other areas are occupied by pro russian organizers? >> reporter: couldn't quite hear your question. donetsk and at least 11 other cities across eastern ukraine remain occupied. buildings in this area remain occupied. in fact yesterday, some more buildings were occupied by the pro russian protestors. another illustration that the geneva agreement that was signed last week isn't really making any difference on the ground at all. i think joe biden's visit will be met with a lot of skepticism on both sides. it's a great show of support for government in kiev. at the same time, ukrainian protestors are saying well, what's taken him so long? many compare the reaction the u.s. had in 2008 war between russia and georgia when the u.s. was more proactive they say. on the other side of this crisis, the pro russian demonstrators see this visit as another illustration of united states meddling in their affairs and their lives. >> what are the ukrainian forces that have been on stand by to

they won't let anyone through. >> james reynolds in donetsk. there is a sizable minority who feel very uncomfortable the way things are evolving over the course of the next few weeks. let's talk about what the west and international community can do. we saw the u.n. special envoy came here to simferopol in crimea and of course was taken away by gunmen and driven back to the airport and left very quickly afterwards. a delegation is supposed to come here, the unarmed military observers and supporters. 23 of them travel anything two buses. yesterday they were turned away from the border. they are trying again today. david, we're going to watch that very closely. they're due to arrive in the next hour. >> christian, thank you very much indeed. a fast moving story on "gmt" and on "bbc world news". let's catch up with some of the other stories around the world. a court in malaysia convicted the leader on charges of sod my. it overturns his a quilts on the same charges two years ago. it is punishable by 20 years in prison. his lawyers have already sai

they've declared their people's republic in donetsk and luhansk. they talk about new russia as an overaveraging structure but also indicative of the fact they're looking to the east and not to the west for their political and economic allegiances. but when i spoke to andre who is the first vice prime minister, effectively number two of the donetsk people's republic last night, he gave me a rather gu d guarded answer at first. on one hand expressing optimism and on the other hand making that wider purpose abundantly clear. here's what he had to say. >> right thousand we are learning about this law. there are a lot of positives which we can use for dialogue and foundation for negotiation. that doesn't mean we've altered our direction on the way to independence and russian world. we really don't plan on building any political relationship with ukraine. not federal or any other. we can discuss economic cooperation, social, cultural and other aspects. >> reporter: he also made it clear he dismissed some of the proposals about an anne amnesty. he said re

this is the city of donetsk itself at dawn break. the president turchynov told parliament the operation will be conducted in a manner stage by stage to stop the attempts s s tear our country apart. in another develop action, putin rejected accusations during a talk with president barack obama saying allegations were unfoended. gabrielle spent the last few days in sloviansk not far from the border. >> a police station in eastern ukraine, on the streets outside there's a battle for control. a shot i thirings out saturday morning. this is where it all began. that man in the blue jacket is a local journalist. they decided he's an enemy of their cause. in town across this region, angry pro russian protectors are taking over government buildings. we arrived just afterwards. our car was stopped by the same crowd. >> the protestors are are extremely aggressive. they saw us with our camera. they threatened us, broke our memory chips and told us to get in the car and get out of here immediately. what is by now a familiar pattern, we got news p

it comes as russia says a group of soldiers captured by ukrainian security forces near donetsk crossed the border by mistake. the meeting between the two down the -- two county meeting will be the first since june. they're trying to push into the rebel held areas in the country. fierce fighting continues. let's speak to david stern in kiev. let's talk more about these russian servicemen who have been captured. they're from a special regimen as i understand. >> well, yes, that's right. they're paratroopers. they said they were told they were going on exercises, not told they were going to ukraine. when they arrived here, they found out quickly that they were not on training exercises. this has been what the ukrainian authorities have said. they've released videos of the captured russian servicemen. we're unable to verify these independently. this goes along with the long standing accusations from kiev and western capitals that russia is sending not only fighters and weapons but in fact soldiers into eastern ukraine. we've heard from russian media who are quoting unnamed source in the de

and in one of those areas, donetsk, alexander zakarchenko has been sworn in. he said he promised to serve the people of donetsk people's republic, but president poroshenko said the weekend's vote was a violation of the current peace agreement. he's thinking of scrapping part of that deal. why would it be a great loss? >> reporter: we're seeing a different type of situation. the president said that this would give the two statelets, the two self-declared republics in the east autonomy, but a limited autonomy and for a limited period of time. some felt it would give them de facto independence, but obviously the donetsk and luhansk people's republics as they've called themselves see it differently. they have had these elections, which were earlier than what was foreseen in the peace deal. the elections weren't supposed to take place until december, and they were supposed to take place under the auspices of the ukrainian government. so everybody here in kiev and also where i am in western capitals see this as mr. poroshenko said, a gross violation. in fact, the cr

ukrainian forces captured the airport at donetsk. when the pro russian rebels tried to capture it, there was a heavy loss of life on the side of rebels. now this is a pay back on their view. the fighting is going on quite heavily. the president elect basically laid out his plan clearly. there won't be negotiation with the armed groups. there will be intensifying the authorities in kiev who are anti-terrorist operation. this is part of the drive to reinforce forces in the area. >> this is a test isn't it? you've just come into office. we've got the osc observers held by a pro russian group who's admitted to holding them. he says he's not going to take any violence against ukrainians lying down. he has to act now doesn't he? >> it is a test. the question is what he can do and what the ukrainian army can do. they've been trying to avoid civilian casualties which are quite low. fighting comes closer and closer to populated area. there have been shelling, civilian deaths in donetsk. this operation becomes dangerous for the credibility of

they returned in the direction of donetsk. they were warned by locals to keep clear of that crash site. still very difficult for people to investigate the scene. >>> in moscow, russian foreign minister lavrov has been speaking about the situation many ukraine. he spoke of the investigation of what happened into the malaysian flight brought down in the east of the country and said he was hopeful the investigation would be objective and obtain innocence. >> we believe the circumstances of the investigation should be based on the u.n. the security of the investigation should be guaranteed by the u.n. the reason will prevail. we'll prioritize finding out the truth, conducting an unbiassed investigation without efforts to forsee its results. >> lavrov there. daniel was at that news conference earlier. it was interesting he did refer to ukraine as a sovereign country. >> yes, that's obviously something which western allies, american and western europe are listening to carefully in last few months. that has been the phrase used by mo

the goal of the ukrainian army is to take donetsk back from rebel control. a reuters correspondent inside the city is reporting gun battles in the center. but it is not possible to determine who was firing at whom. residents have been forced to take cover from artillery fire directed at rebel held positions. with civilian casualties rising significantly in recent weeks, the region has over a quarter of a million displaced people. many have fled the cities while those behind take shelter where they can. but it is luhansk where the attention has now turned. the ukrainian army say they have taken one district. but kiev is now claiming the separatist city has been significantly reinforced. these pictures on social media were filmed in the past 48 hours inside russia. and show russian armored vehicles. i counted least 24 tanks and other combat vehicles, you see them on railway flat cars heading in the direction of ukraine. you may notice the smoke plumes in the distance. however, we can't say what their final destination was. neither can we link these pictures wi

bbc news, donetsk. >> we're going to take you straight to nairobi now. the president of kenya uhuru kenyatta is addressing the nation about an attack by the militant group al shabab in the northeast of the country that killed 36 people. let's listen in. >> the decades of horror, fear, outrage, and frustration, we resolve as a nation to protect our sovereignty by pursuing our enemiy iey ies beyond our borde somalia. by mid 2011, it had become clear that our long border with an ungoverned territory, teeming with violent criminals, was a threat to our national stability. joining military efforts to bring peace to somalia was the inevitable answer to our terror and security threats. in october 2011, the government authorized the kdf to pursue al shabab militia into somalia. this decision was right then and remains so today. following requests by regional, continental, and global actors, kdf joined in february 2012. to date, we remain part of the african union mission. the incursion in somalia has been largely successful. al shabab is depleted and on the retr

they've declared a people's republic of donetsk p p that's for the region. there are two standoffs causing great concern to the authorities here. the question is if they decide to take force or if, indeed, they decide to negotiate how they're going to solve this problem. >> great concern, of course, internationally as well, david. at the same time, you've got president putin meeting senior government leaders, looking at the economic links between ukraine and russia. and potentially that could be extremely damaging to ukraine, couldn't it? if, for example, there were bans put on certain trading agreements? >> reporter: indeed. as you pointed out before, very much the focus will be on gas and on energy. ukraine gets the majority of its gas from russia. it's a very gas-dependent economy. russia has already raised the price in recent days of ukrainian -- that ukraine pays for russian gas by 80%. ukraine has said they are not going to pay this price. they say the previous price was perfectly fine. but the russians say now that the ukrainians have not paid their b

kidnapped by rebels, beaten and paraded as traitor on the streets of donetsk. now she's running for ukraine's parliament. we'll meet her. left twix® is extra crisp so it stays crunchy when we apply caramel and chocolate. >>right twix has the same thing. they have packing tape like that over at right twix? try both. pick a side. twix applebee's. where fans know best. >>> hello. you're watching "gmt" on "bbc world news." these are our top stories. oscar pistorius is sentenced to five years jail for killing his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. the judge said a noncustodial sentence would send the wrong message to the community. his athletic career may be over after the international paralympic committee said they'll ban pistorius from competing for five years. >>> now let's take you to ukraine, because people there go to the polls this weekend in a key parliamentary election. it's dominated, of course, by the ongoing military conflict in the east. this week our correspondent steve rosenberg will be reporting from across the country. today he's in the east where separa

kiev claims parts of donetsk and luhansk regions are declared russia. reports say four international monitors were detained in eastern ukraine thursday. we have the bbc ukrainian service. we've had confirmation from russian troop withdrawals and more focus on east military. >> there was withdraw of troops on the russian side of the border from 40,000 to estimated 10,000. the pull back has happened there. from the ukrainian perspective. there's a large number of infiltration of russian fighters, militants from the russian territory into the ukrainian territory that change add. the fighting on the side of the pro russian separatists. there seems to be a build up there particularly with reports of people from other areas taking part on the side of separatists in ukraine. >> how worried is kiev about that? >> well, i think on the one hand there's been a shooting down helicopter with one of the generals of the national guard. there have been attacks on the ukrainian military. there's loss of life on the ukrainian side. however the ukrainian military men and

she says they are from the donetsk wing. opposed to the kiev government against the overthrow of vi-- >>> nato has just announced in the past hour or so it has agreed on more military measures to reinforce its member's security. the organization's secretary-general said it will deploy more air, land and sea forces in eastern europe. >> today we agreed on a package of further military measures to reinforce or collective defense and demonstrate the strength of ally solidarity. we will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water and more readiness on the land. for example, air police and aircraft will fly more over the baltic region. ally ships will deploy to the baltic sea, the eastern mediterranean and elsewhere as required. military staff from allied nations will deploy to enhance our preparedness, training and exercises. >> anders rasmussen speaking in brussels. jonathan, what's that announcement all about? reassuring the nervous neighbors? >> absolutely. two things. reassuring nato's allies in the baltics and in c

there's another front as the ukrainians put it in the southern region of donetsk and the humanitarian crisis is rising. so the two sides are very far apart. one of the problems as far as the ukrainians are concerned is the russians say they are not an involved party. that they have no part in this. so for them, for the ukrainians, given the evidence that russian fighters if not soldiers but fighters are coming regularly through the border and there are weapons, armored vehicles, this makes it very difficult to negotiate. ultimately the question is what russia wants in the end. if it's just a question of rights for the russian-speaking community, that's one thing. if it's as the ukrainians and many western official feel, that it's ultimately to have a say in ukrainian affairs, to neutralize ukraine, to basically make ukraine subservient, as they put it, then this is an entirely different matter. we'll see what the road map actually proposes and how the reaction to that is. >> okay. david stern in kiev. thanks, david. >>> now, stay with us here on "bbc world news." still plenty more to

there is fighting in and around the area of donetsk, the city of donetsk especially, the airport which is a very key spot. the government forces still control the airport. there's been shelling as well as in the town itself. we've heard six people have died recently under many casualties, and obviously the fighting is in other areas. but as i say, even though it seems to be escalating somewhat in the past days, it's not quite at the levels that we've seen before and nobody is saying that the cease-fire, or at least that full scale hostilities are break out any time soon. >> so david, have we seen an improvement in the humanitarian situation? >> well, in some ways yes. i should start off by saying in some ways no, obviously with the fighting, it is much worse for those people who are coming under fire. that said, some people seem to be coming back to donetsk and luhansk, the cities that are controlled by the rebels. we also have been informed of prisoner exchanges or p.o.w. exchanges between the two sides. russians also have delivered another convoy of humanitarian aid. but, of course,

are a number of other hostages or people detained by the pro russian separatists in the east in this donetsk region. >> many thanks indeed. joining us live from kiev. >>> at least 17 have been killed by a series of tornados in the american midwest. 11 deaths were in the suburbs of little rock in arkansas where the tornadoes reported to be a kilometer live. wendy reports. >> reporter: on the kansas, missouri border, the city lies in ruins. whole buildings are torn apart. the ground is covered. from the air it's easy to see the extent of the damage. roofs torn off homes, contents exposed. people are clearly determined to clean up the mess the twister left behind. it wasn't done yet. from oklahoma it headed to kansas. here too homes were damaged beyond repair. trees are ripped out by the roots. their dama they caused more damage as they fell. the massive tornado plowed through this community and left almost nothing behind. a desperate search and rescue operation is underway to track down anyone who may be injured or trap add. in nebraska, the sky looks me nising as the tail begins to form. the

abductions have taken place across the donetsk and ukraine region. i asked about the government response to that report. >> so far no official response tim. it should be said, yes it was a damming report that raised a lot of concerns on the side of amnesty international. they said there were kidnappings and abuses on both sides. the majority the, bulk of abuses and kidnappings were carried out by pro russian separatists, fighting against the government forces. as we know, bbc has seen a basement in the town of slovian sloviansk. in some cases the instances were stomach turning. >> to entrance the situation further do you think? >> difficult to say. there's been accusations and reports some time. the government is accusing the pro russian separatists of carrying out the campaign. the political reasons for the abduction, there were also reasons for intimidating the local population. obviously this does not help the situation, but it definitely points to the increasing and ongoing brutality of conflict in eastern ukraine. >> david stern in kiev. >>> ger

we've been told the airport in donetsk, the main city there in the donetsk region has been closed. at least to international flights. not clear what's happening with regional flights. as i'm in kiev now, the situation -- >> i was going to ask you, do we have idea about whether loyalties of these city, populations, lie? >> well they seem to be mixed. it's difficult to say. when you have armed separatists in your midst you may not be speaking freely. it appears there's a significant portion at least in sloviansk and perhaps other towns of the local population that does support it. other people are not as vocal. obviously that would be a risky move to go out and say you oppose this. what would be interesting to see is as activists and separatists carry out this referendum may 11th. what exactly the reaction of the local population would be. >> yeah. looking at vienna the council meeting as well. is there anything kiev authorities are hanging onto some sort of diplomatic solution here. >> well difficult to say. there's diplomatic solutions that seem to be in effect or perhaps even dead

overnight, heavy shelling was heard in the city of donetsk, the last major strong hold of the pro russian separatists. we went into the city to meet some of those that so far at least have decided to stay despite the fighting. >> reporter: we've come to this market in the center of donetsk. everywhere in the city you constantly here bangs, shelling, artillery fire. at the same time, some normal life goes on as well. here, not all -- this shop is closed -- some are open. let's go see what people here thin think. i asked her about the mh 17 crash, and she said i don't know. we only have russian television here, and we're not getting the other side. >> opinions are very divided here. across the divide, one thing everyone shares no matter where the support the government in kiev or accept rseparatist forc everyone is preparing for war. >>> the french president francois hollande has been giving details about the plane that crashed in mali thursday. weather is thought to be the most likely cause of the crash. half of the passengers were french nationals. speaking in paris, the president said th

russian troops still surround ukraine's military bases here in the eastern city of donetsk. a government building has been contested for four days. kerch is another ukrainian military base. 12 coast guard ships broke free of the russian blockade. they fear they were going to be sunk by the russians. and this is the east of mainland ukraine. it appears to be russian armed forces patrolling outside a military base. there it is, the russian flag flying there. well, let's go live to bbc's ben brown who joins me from sevastopol in crimea. ben? >> reporter: nik, thank you very much. it is the political development that's really crucial today. and i think the referendum that has been caused by the parliament today will be on march 16th. 78 votes in favor. just 8 abstentions. do you want to be part of ukraine or do you want to be part of russia? the answer is likely to be russia. because the majority of the population here in crimea, almost 60%, are ethnic russians. we're hearing vladimir putin, the russian president has been discussing that request to be part of russia with his sec

>> reporter: we're hearing there is fighting down in donetsk. social media reports and phonev conversations we've managed to have with people living in sloviansk have talked about fighting on the outskirts of the city. there's unconfirmed reports the interior minister has talked about casualtyinies on both sid. this latest fighting on the outskirts of the city, the pro russian strong hold here in eastern ukraine. the reports are saying the number of casualties is yet to be confirmed. it does appear there's fighting in and around sloviansk. the operations there intensified. >> okay sarah thanks. now to paris. is there any indication it may be time for sanctions to be imposed against entire sectors of the russian economy? >> well i think he's reflecting today the difficulty getting everyone around the table to determine what kind of sanctions. germans have supported asset freezes and bans at the moment. americans are reflecting larger sanctions. we know europe is highly dependant on gas from russia. half of that flows through ukraine. there are so

presence of russ russia in ukraine, the group says since april armed fighters supporting luhansk and donetsk are detaining hundreds of civilians including journalists, pro activists and non orthodox religious leaders. a report shows a photo of what the group says is the basement of the security services. civilians were kicked, stabs, burned with cigarettes, all subjective to mark execution. this is a half destroyed list of detainees found after insur is gents left last month which have the names of those that have been taken. human rights watch says it has what the group says is a mass grave where the bodies of four christians were found after the men were abducted from a protestant church service. i spoke to the author of that report. i asked if there's a particular group of civilians target aed. >> these people deemed to be critics of the self-proclaimed authorities in eastern ukraine. those critics are activists, journalists, religious activists who are not russian orthodox and being perceived as disa approving of the self-proclaimed. it's as simple as that. then of course other people ar

this is donetsk airport, the scene of more fierce fighting. the pro russian separatist rebels have been gaining ground in recent days in luhansk and donetsk regions. ukrainian forces say they were forced to withdraw from the airport. the defense minister says on his facebook page russia is behind the rebel attacks and begun a full scale military intervention. he says a great war has arrived at our doorstep, the likes of which europe has not seen since world war ii. russia denies involvement in the conflict. lavrov said monday's talks should agree on a ceasefire. those talks brought together ukrainian, russian and separatist envoys over a few hours. >> rebels do appear to have softened demands. they're seeking a special status region if for ukraine to give amnesty of prosecution. it will allow the deepening of economic with russia. they're set with closer economic ties with eu. talks are adjourned until friday. >> at the next few days, nato is set to agree on a rapid response force of several thousand troops that can be deployed in two days. th

therefore the skepticism. >> richard on the ground in donetsk. among those who are really urging nato's leadership to take a tough line against russia are the baltic states, former soviet union states. states such as poland. they're very pleased today one of the things due to be announced is creation of nato rapid reaction force, the kind dispanded a number of years ago. that idea being that there could be a multinational force ready to go to any hot spot such as russia's borders within a matter of days. i've been speaking to one of those ministers asking him about his view of russia and ukraine. >> of course everyone hopes that the killings and violence are stopped in ukraine. we see. ceasefire will be welcome. of course there's doubts because one of the problems is russia didn't admit so far it's part of the conflict. it's crucial if you like to find solution. >> how do you perceive president putin's strategy? do you think he wants to push ahead into ukraine? >> i'm quite pessimistic. it's clear russia wants to stop ukraine's movement closer to

there were significant talks yesterday in donetsk which were attended by the former ukrainian president and also by the osce, by the russian ambassador to ukraine. this morning, the president heads to austria about the talks of ukraine, we hear the council plans to revoke the force in ukraine. this could be very important. >> thanks very much. >>> in the last hour, egypt's president al-sisi says he won't intervene on the jail sentences handed down by the cairo court to al-jazeera journalists. it comes here as bbc and other news organizations have held silent protests in london and other newsrooms around the world. peter greste, an australian report their used to work with many of us here at the bbc, plus his colleagues mohammed fahmy and baher mohamed all given seven year jail terms yesterday after being charged with spreading false news and supporting muslim's brother hood. australia has urged the president to step in. >> the government is shocked by the sentence. we are dismayed by the verdict. we're bewildered by the severity on the sentence. for the evidence we have seen, we cannot

. >> the group says it was their volunteers who tried to seize donetsk airport last month. dozens of fighters were killed. more than 30 bodies were taken to russia. >> translator: our job isn't just dispatch volunteers and coordinate activities. it's our responsibility to bring them home whether dead or alive. >> the russian volunteer group says it gets no direct support from the government here. moscow has repeatedly denied sending troops and military hardware across the board. western governments maintain among the fighters in eastern ukraine, professionals which are funded, equipped and backed by russia. >> officially this is the only assistance russia has been providing the people of eastern ukraine. it's humanitarian. on the russian side of the border, refugees escape the violence get clothes, medicine and transport to temporary shelter. at a hospital nearby, many refugees told us they had relatives who staid behind to fight the ukrainian army. >> translator: i hope my son kills 2,000 of those kiev bandits. if he does, i'll build a statue to him. he'll be my hero. >> t

. >>> as clashes continue in donetsk, some find themselves out of europe and u.s. >>> a memorial service and apology from the president for those involved in the ferry disaster. >>> what chance is at risk for a peace deal as the initiative fails? aaron is here. an oil giant is caught up in the sanctions against russia. it may be british. bp owns a 20% stake many the giant rosneft. now the u.s. has added this man the boss of rosneft to its sanction list saying he's in vladimir putin's inner circle. we asked what impact this could have on bp. hello. it is midday in london, 7:00 washington, 3:00 in moscow. there's been a twist? the tug of war over ukraine. russia described the unprecedented increase in u.s. and nato activity near borders. the defense minister told his u.s. counter part to tone down the rhetoric promising russia had no plans to invade ukraine. meanwhile eu followed washington and announced new sanctions targeting top political players in russia. on the ground the situation remains unchanged and unstable. nick childs has this. >> sloviansk today looking very much like a pro r

the mill tabt-- 150 kilometers in the neighboring republic, this is donetsk, capital of the proclaimed people's republic. people are busy building their own police force. from campaign posters around town, you can tell there's an election here too, but not the ukrainian parliament. >> he's giving a press conference now about the election they're going to be having here for local parliament and local head of state. meanwhile, many shops here are boarded up. most of the banks aren't working. there's heavy fighting going on still in the edge of the city and reports of fighting amongst the rebels. no one really knows here how this attempt to break away from kiev is going to end. steve rosenburg, bbc news in eastern ukraine. >> get more of steve's road trip around ukraine in the program on thursday. >>> now you are bound to notice, but do you wonder why are some creatures have such dazzling skins? researchers here in england appear to have found the answer. they say the surface of fish and insects is made of multiple layers of crystals which creates a reflective appearance when the light bo

this is donetsk, capital of self-proclaimed donetsk people's republic. militants are busy state building creating their own police force, tax inspectors. from the campaign posters around town, there's going to be an election here too but not for ukrainian parliament. >> this is head of the people's election economy. he's giving a press conference for what they're having here for local parolemeliament. >> meanwhile, many of the shops here are boarded up. most banks aren't working. there's heavy fighting going on still on the edge of the city in places and reports of fighting amongst the rebels. no one really knows here how this attempt to break away from kiev is going to end. steve rosenburg, bbc news in eastern ukraine. >> to pakistan where a leading antigovernment cleric says he's ending the the two month protest. he started the campaign against the government with a mass rally in august. >> the announcement came last night. since then, protestors have been packing up. they have been camped out last two po months. the movement was led by cleric from can

if people from the donetsk and luhansk can be suffered from this attack and from this point of view. i think that the initiative ukraine supported by the whole world supported by people. 100% people wants a peace. >> that's the ukrainian president poroshenko. just coming in to us from london. keep an eye out. we'll let you know if we can get that full interview to you. wanted to bring you that clip. we can cross live to kiev and speak to american ambassador to ukraine jeffrey who joined us from kiev. great to speak to you. we were just hearing there a clip of an interview the bbc has done with the ukrainian president poroshenko in which he reiterate as cautious optimism and welcome of potential for this peace deal. how optimistic are you that this ceasefire plan that's being hammered out right now will actually lead to end in fighting? >> well i think we have to be cautious based on what we've seen so far of russian behavior. we heard from president poroshenko his strong and deep commitment to try and achieve a lasting peace and end to this confli conflict. the fact is the violence t

the way it's perceived by local people is a counter offensive stage by the separatist donetsk people's republic with support from russia. a russian invasion not connected with the people's republic movement. >> joining us live from mariupol, thanks very much andrew. what is president putin's plan? with me the russian expert, peter. thanks for coming in. we've seen president putin in the last half hour or so give comments. he's been saying things like that the ukrainian army and encircling cities in the east of the country is the nazi siege during world war ii. those are arranged for russian audience or people outside russia? >> the russian audience and also russian speaking outside. people in eastern ukraine follow what putin says closely. we've seen this use of sort of nazi language from the start of the conflict. that's one of the ways the kremlin has been trying to frame this historically and emotionally. this is a battle of fasism, continuation of world war ii and so forth. >> is there support for putin among ordinary russians? >> i always hate the phrase ordinary russians. the sta

officials say troops in the donetsk region were subject to artillery and rockets. we'll keep an eye on that. i'll be back in an hour with impact. follow me on twitter also. thank you very much for watching. [ male announcer ] it's one of the most amazing things we build and it doesn't even fly. we build it in classrooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrow's innovators. we build it raising roofs, preserving habitats and serving america's veterans. every day, thousands of boeing volunteers help make their communities the best they can be. building something better for all of us. ♪ the worlds most entertaining device with a color... colorfully brilliant screen that blows the competition out of the water. what is this? i thought i was doing the announcing... stunningly thin and effortlessly light..." i was literally about to say that. it certainly has the best screen of any samsung tablet. and i would add... or of any tablet, period. or of any tablet, period. see, buddy... teamwork. introducing the galaxy tab s with twice the resolution of hdtv, it's the world's mo

this is our home. >> so you're saying there's no way back to a united ukraine for donetsk? >> translator: we have passed the point of no return. if there had been no aggression by kiev, no victims, then we could have held a referendum about being part of a federal ukraine. now anyone who suggests being part of a united ukraine would be seen as a criminal. the state of ukraine doesn't exist anymore. >> do you exclude having talks with the new president? >> translator: talks isn't the right word. dialogue is possible. we view russia in that role. there are two questions we could discuss. first exchange of prisoners and second withdraw of all ukrainian military units from our territory. >> how important is assistance from russia? there are reports of volunteers from the russian federation to fight on your side in ukraine. >> translator: the volunteers keep coming. there are more from russia because we and the russians are one people. we were born in the same country, soviet union. we grew up with the same ideals and have the same heroes. our fathers and grandfathers defeated t

the prime minister of donetsk people's republic says he has 3,000 fighters from russia fighting along side his separatist troops. he says it's because they prefer to spend holidays in ukraine rather than on the beach as he put it. nervous government in kiev is calling on nato for help. they're holding a summit in whales. papers in russia support the security meeting took place on tuesday. i asked our correspondent in moscow whether any newspapers were picking up on this new separatist front in ukraine. >> one exclusion is the who witnessed the take over, saw groups of well uniformed soldiers on tanks with no id's. no stone proof that these are the russian soldiers. have we seen it else where have? yes in crimea in the early stages of russian take over. for weeks there's been soldiers, very well equipped with no insignia. nobody could tell who they were officially. they turned out to be russians. >> is there a sort of public -- i don't know scratching of heads or dawning of realization as to what's going on. what is the perception of what is happening among russian people now? >> well,

we'll bring you more on this breaking news story coming out of donetsk as we get it here at bbc world news. >>> meanwhile, a convoy carrying aid from moscow to those rebel held areas of eastern ukraine have left the southern russian city. kiev says it must cross via government controlled border and that any operation must be coordinated by the international red cross. bbc steve rosenburg is traveling with that convoy. >> reporter: well, the russian aid convoy is on the move again just before dawn. we spotted dozens and dozens of white lorries moving from the military airfield heading out of town. judging by the road science we've been seeing this morning, the convoy is heading to the region. on board the more than 260 lorries are 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid like sleeping bags, electricity generators, sugar, grain, rice, baby food for people suffering from fighting in eastern ukraine. it's unclear what will happen when these reach the border. yesterday ukrainian authorities refused permission to enter the territory insisting the whole operation had to be cleared and coordinated by t

there have been pro and anti demos in donetsk and other places there. so far the situation seems to be more or less under control under the central kiev authorities. today president yann coacher spoke just across the border saying i'm still the president. i'm alive. i will be back in ukraine when the conditions are right. he didn't explain about what the conditions are right. on the statement repeated quite a lot of things that were kim f coming out earlier. nazis in power. i'm the legitimate president. everybody should agree with me. >> many thanks indeed for joining us. >>> oscar pistorius murder trial, the court heard more evidence from reeva steenkamp's postmortem report. findings contradict a previous statement by pistorius over when the couple went to sleep that night. oscar pistorius denies intentionally killing his girlfriend. nomsa is outside the courthouse. bring us up to date. what has happened so far today? >> reporter: well, despite the constant grilling from defense attorney barry roux, the state pathologist was adamant reeva steenkamp did

it slightly takes our eye off the ball of what is going on around luhansk and donetsk. what's the situation? >> the situation is intense. there's heavy fighting in the place which is half way through the corridor that cuts donetsk away from luhansk. now the two seem to be separated by ukrainian forces. there's heavy loss of lives including civilian life. roughly 60 people a day are dying in the area. there's a lot of loss of ukrainian military. today they reported for instance, the downing of another military helicopter with the crew being killed. this happened two days ago and only reported now. there are also reports of a loss of regular russian troops sported in the area. there's very little hard evidence to prove that this is large numbers. at least the ukrainian officials have produced some evidence of armored personnel carriers with russian documents, driving licenses, military cards inside. the russian defense ministry defenses that as yet another provocation. one more illustration to the blame game and one more illustration of how tense the situation is and how

one in donetsk. they've called for a referendum there if you call. authorities have cleared activists from one of the government buildings in kharkiv and detained or arrested 70 people there. obviously the situation continues. there's a great deal of concern not just in parliament but the ukrainian government as well. we have heard from western governments and nato leaders. >> looking at what's happening in kharkiv there, we've seen people arrested. how much appetite for another referendum pushing for further ties with russia? >> that's really the question. we don't know how deep this pro russian or antigovernment movement goes. we have a few hundred people, couple hundred that occupied the donetsk building. they claim to represent a larger movement. east, even though russian speaking and quite a few ethnic russians, they are ethnic ukrainian citizens. recent polls indicate the majority of people don't want to join russia. they would like more autonomy but not federallization of the country. this is a fluent situation and difficult to say what exactl

the spokesman said donetsk was now cut off from the rebel held area around luhansk. we'll bring you more on this developing situation as soon as our correspondents report to us here at bbc world news. >>> moving to turkey where the newly elected president erdogan says he wants to start a new era of social reconciliation after becoming the country's first directly elected head of state. mr. erdogan has already served three terms with the country's prime minister. he told thousands of supporters that his victory was for all turks. >> my dear brothers and sisters, i speak from my heart. today is the day we initiate a social reconciliation process. please leave a side the old discussions, old disputes, old tensions in the old turkey. let us leave all the virtual problems and conflicts in the old turkey. >> let's talk live now to bbc turkish service joining me in the studio. we just heard there from the new president erdogan claiming to be a president for all. do you think uncharacteristically reconciliation tone of voice you would say? >> yes, in previous speeches after

the united nations says conditions and shelters further east near the conflict zone near luhansk and donetsk are much more primitive. united nations says a shortage in the areas of basic things like mattresses, bed linens and hygiene items. united nations is particularly worried about the winter in ukraine. it's several months away. temperatures are high at the moment. it says the tamounts of shelter accomodation people can go to will be dramatically reduced. around a quarter of those people that friday the fighting need shelter accomodation. the united nations also warns if the war continues and fighting continues to intensify, this can run out too. >> thanks very much in kiev for us. stay with us on witness world news. much more to come. chinese investigators are looking at a canadian couple they accuse of stealing military and defense secrets. we build it in classrooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrow's innovators. we build it raising roofs, preserving habitats and serving america's veterans. every day, thousands of boeing volunteers help make their communities the best they can be.

this victory day in donetsk at the heart of the pro russian revolt in eastern ukraine. a moment of calm perhaps and for the dwindling number of veterans. tensions of modern politics in this troubled region remain unresolved. they're marking the day in the capital country kiev with the flags of ukraine on display. these people seems united in history if not over the country's future. bbc news. >> let's go to sebastopol now and speak to daniel who joining us on the phone. daniel, what reception did he get? is he attending the parade now? >> reporter: the victory parade was this morning. it was a fairly normal affair. normal number of troops. significant difference they were wearing their medal won for the return of crimea to russia. crowd was much bigger. people were cheering. everyone disappeared to have lunch. suddenly the main square of sebastopol was cleared. the security guards appeared in armed vehicles. the hiss totoric state leading became a corded off area. we heard president putin landed but he hasn't stepped off. there are thousands of people here waiting for h

. >> reporter: we've come to this market in donetsk. everywhere in the city you hear bangs, shelling, artillery fire. at the same time, some normal life goes on as well. not all the shop is closed but some are open. let's go and see what people here think. i asked her about the mh 17 crash, and she said i don't know. we only have russian television here, and we're just not getting the other side. opinions aren't very divided here, but across the divide, one thing that everyone shares no mat whether they support the government in kiev or separatist forces here, everybody is preparing for war. >> reporting from donetsk there. second flight due to leave from the kharkiv airport in an hour. although the investigation was meant to end today, we understand there's a few more remains brought from the crash site itself. the team will continue to work tomorrow. there may be one or two more flights. the team's job here is done. certainly all investigators i've been speaking to over the last few days wants to stay to collect the other human remain

in cities like slovyansk and donetsk, russian protestors occupy government buildings after two weeks. the question remain, how much control does russia, in other words moscow, have over the pro-russian separatists in the cities like this in the east? president barack obama has accused russia for failing to respect the terms of last week's geneva agreement that seemed to offer a chance of defusing tension. >> we have seen them not a bide by the spirit or letter of the agreement in geneva. instead we continue to see militias and armed men taking over buildings, harassing folks who are disagreeing with them. >> this after warning from russia's foreign minister lavrov that will there will be a firm response from russia if attacked. >> we will certainly respond. if our legitimate interest, interest of russians have been attacked directly like they were before for example, i don't see any other way but to respond in full accordance with international law. russian cities being attack aed is attack against the russian federation. >>> meanwhile in neighboring poland to the west, and the three

about 3 million people in two eastern regions, donetsk and luhansk, ravaged by conflict, did not vote. pro-russian separatists in this area plan to hold their own polls next month. another almost two million people in crimea, which was annexed by russia in march, also did not take part, which means 27 seats from these areas will remain weakened. meanwhile, conflict is far from over in the rebel-held eastern part of ukraine. more than 3,500 people have been killed since the conflict began, including 300 who were killed after a cease-fire was agreed in september. all eyes are now on these election results to see what the outcome can yield for this war-torn country. >> once it's formed, the new coalition will be under pressure to deliver results. >> i think what we're looking at is the coalition will be very, very easy to form. there are lots of like-minded people elected during the elections. people who want to move closer to europe. people who declare that fighting corruption is one of the key things for them. people who basically support what mr. poroshenko has been saying about the p

and destroy a russian backed and lar largely -- on the east of the country, around donetsk and luhansk. and the west was largely letting this happen. west was not being honest toward poroshenko, not being honest toward poroshenko because it knew the moment that vladimir putin decided to commit russian forces to protect this rebellion, the west was faced with two choices. one of which was to either arm ukraine, the other was to tell ukraine to surrender this territory, creating what is called a frozen conflict. what it really means is the zone of russian occupation inside your country, which excludes you from ever joining nato and probably also the eu. >> what do you think when you hear estonia wants a military base of nato right there in their own country, given what president putin's reaction has been to nato being on russia's doorstep in the past, what would the response be? would that have a calming effect or would it have an exacerbating effect? >> well, we have to realize that -- we got to realize that when you talk about russians and talk about vladimir putin, a very big differen

the acting prime minister of the donetsk people's republic, won by a landslide. he said he was ready to talk to authorities in kiev, but as an independent state. >> translator: we've long been ready to talk with kiev. we're looking forward to a rational response from them. >> reporter: the elections raised tensions in the region even higher. the eu said the vote was illegal and illegitimate and violated a cease-fire agreement that the separatists had signed in september. but moscow said the elections were valid. residents said they simply hoped the election would bring stability to their lives. >> translator: we hope for peace, for well-being and prosperity of the region so that everything is fine for us and no one is killed and everyone is alive and well. >> reporter: however, at the moment, any hope for peace is a distant one. fighting continued through the weekend, and the ukrainian army reported a number of their troops killed and wounded. locals and western journalists also said a large column of fighters and military hardware arrived from the direction of r

for instance, they are sending more to donetsk, the flashpoint. so we will see how that will develop. there is an initiative, some kind of political offer to talk rather than to brandish weapons. >> we are seeing threats from the eu and the u.s. realistically, will we get any strong sanctions like germany? >> well, this is debatable. the policy of the european union seems to be more coherent. germany and its eastern neighbors in the baltic states. >> will russia be worried about that. >> it is difficult to say. depending on the quality of sanctions and whether they top the top echelon of ministers. >> could be even more tough sanctions. tomorrow president putin will be addressing the parliament. this is the tpfrt time we will hear what his positions are and how he plans to respond crimean referendum. >> many thanks. 26 countries now involved in a vast search over a widened area for the missing malaysia airlines plane which disappeared a week ago. authorities revealed they think it was the co-pilot of the missing aircraft that spoke the last word t

well, fighting in the regions of luhansk and donetsk go on. separatists and government troops accusing one another of causing widespread damage. russia denies arming and supporting those separatists. and, across the border, russia is beginning to feel the effect of the fighting. the foreign ministry says ukrainian shell hit the russian town of donetsk, killing one person. and seriously injuring two others. let's get a view of the situation as it is. daniel sanford is in moscow, having just got back, from the russian side of the border. >> yes, that's right. the eu leaders are prepared to meet in brussels in the last hour. we already heard from angela merkel, spokesman who says she's very disappointed with what the russians have done so far in terms of trying to lead talks towards peace. david cameron, the british prime minister, is said to be pushing for further sanctions, in conversations between angela merkel and president obama. all the time that those possible future sanctions are being discussed, the war of words going on between moscow a

we aim at the reconciliation of ukrainians, because ukrainians in donetsk should be reintegrated into ukraine and we should remain as one country, and this is why the laws were adopted. >> that itself is not going to happen, it would seem, certainly at the moment. already we have the deputy prime minister, self-declared of the donetsk people's republic, saying it's going to be complete self-rule and kiev needs to get used to that. >> no, this is not going to happen. all i can say is the agreement -- >> we got a bit of a freeze there, as you can see. just see if it's going to come back. i don't think it is, unfortunately. which is a real shame. nonetheless, what we can do is reflect on the european union's situation, because in strasburg for us is chris morris, where, of course, the european parliament has now ratified the association agreement. what does that actually amount to? we hear the implementation of the deal is put back some 15 months anyway. >> the implementation of part of it is put back, but i think symbolically, it is a big moment. i was in lithuania nearly a year ago whe