to mariupol and other cities at huge humanitarian cost, but russia, too, has had thousands killed so far. what the west fears now is that to break the stalemate, the kremlin will resort to something as drastic as chemical or battlefield nuclear weapons to tip the odds in its favour. frank gardner, bbc news. russian president vladimir putin has never called it a war, but rather a "special operation" to demilitarise his neighbour. russia has seen protesters take the streets and life for many has been changed drastically by economic sanctions. our russia editor steve rosenberg reports from st petersberg. a warning his report contains flashing images. at the age of 76, she's a prolific artist, but for yelena, the priority now isn't paintings, it's placards.