our correspondent hugo bachega is in kyiv. talk u5 talk us through the response from ukraine to what has been announced in moscow. the ukrainians are saying nothing really the ukrainians are saying nothing really changes, everything that happened in moscow yesterday was a farce with happened in moscow yesterday was a farce with no legitimacy, no legal implication. they say that going ahead implication. they say that going ahead with the counteroffensive to take back ahead with the counteroffensive to take back territory which is now an russian take back territory which is now an russian hands. president zelensky last night russian hands. president zelensky last night said that the path was difficult last night said that the path was difficult but he was confident that victory difficult but he was confident that victory would come to the ukrainians. and as russia claim sovereignty over done yet, the ukrainians seem to be making some gains ukrainians seem to be making some
supporting ukraine, saying that president putin s blackmail would not succeed, perhaps talking about energy and gas. and president zelensky last night in his address devoted a great part of his nightly address to talk about the change in leadership. and he referred to boris johnson as being a friend. 0bviously, borisjohnson came here three times since the beginning of the war. ten days ago he was here on the war. ten days ago he was here on the defenders they alongside president zelensky again urging european countries to endure this cost of living crisis, to defeat russia in this country. and president zelensky also talked about liz truss and said ukrainians know liz truss very well, she has always been on the bright side of european politics, in the words of the president, and he said he
argued all along, which is that moscow can t be trusted, when the deal was struck in istanbul a couple of days ago, they did not say that this was an indication of any kind of renewed faith in moscow s goodwill, but something moscow had essentially been cajoled and forced into doing. so president zelensky last night described it as barbaric and an indication that moscow simply can t be trusted. i think what is interesting now to see is that the damage we initially thought might have been quite extensive to the port facilities in odesa seems to be relatively minor. nothing that we have seen, nothing suggests anything of great significance was damaged. so from a technical point of view there is no reason for the ukrainians not to go ahead with preparations for the shipment of that grain that has been trapped there all this time. but i want is more significant is the symbolic value of this and the message it sends to the international community and to the maritime community, which
three calibre cruise missiles fired from a russian submarine causing terrible destruction. as to why, it is not clear. the russians say they targeted a military facility but the bbc team has been there and said there was no military facility. the missiles are quite accurate and the accusation from the ukrainians says this was a deliberate attack on a civilian area. president zelensky last night made that point, saying russia is showing itself to be a terrorist state and doing these for the purpose of terrorising the people of this country. the russians denied that and always deny they hit civilian targets, even when the evidence is overwhelmingly showing something different. they say they are targeting military facilities. as to the reality of it, people have their own interpretations. it is difficult to know without being inside the minds of those who fired the missile. the death toll is high,
23 already with dozens missing. president zelensky said it is thought the death toll will go higher because people are still buried there potentially or not identified. there is an image that stuck with me from what i saw yesterday, disturbing, a young girl, four years old, called liza. a photo of her face down on the floor, next to her buggy. juxtaposed with video her mother posted on social media hours before walking along and laughing. and these attacks have been continuing weeks and weeks now. the images coming through are heartbreaking and very tragic. thank you. the sri lankan parliament will begin the process of electing a new president tomorrow to replace gotabaya rajapaksa, who has quit following mass demonstrations. crowds of people defied a curfew in the capital to celebrate his resignation the former president fled