内容摘要：David Alpert, whose portrait The Curious Seal won two awards at the

David Alpert, whose portrait The Curious Seal won two awards at the

"Lately the shelling has only intensified, for half the day today we have heard boom after boom," Ms Kondratenko said in a phone interview.Zelensky was right to reject the proposal "because you know how they operate, like what happened at Easter", she added, referring to the Russians.

"They announced a ceasefire, then used it to bring in more equipment and started attacking again. What kind of ceasefire is that?"Last month, around Easter, Russia proposed a similar 30-hour cessation in hostilities but was later accused by Ukraine of violating its own suggested truce nearly 3,000 times.On that occasion, rather than rejecting the proposal outright, Ukraine said it would mirror Russia's actions.

A senior Ukrainian military officer told the BBC at the time that frontline units received an order to stop firing at Russian positions, but to record evidence of Russian violations and return fire if needed.By Wednesday Ukrainian officials had not said categorically whether they would adjust their military action over the three-day period. Asked if Ukrainian forces planned to continue military operations, a source in the presidential office told the BBC: "We'll see."

From Novosofiivka village, in the very badly hit region of Zaporizhzhia, Antonina Sienina, 35, said that any ceasefire worth agreeing to should come with "solid guarantees" for Ukraine's safety and sovereignty – not something included in Putin's plan for the next three days.

But Ms Sienina had mixed feelings. Her parents were killed in a Russian strike, her brother has been wounded, and her village has been pounded, so "maybe it wasn't right to refuse" the three-day proposal, she added.A mum with a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos hopes to raise awareness after it went undetected for more than a year.

Emily-Jane Scandrett has pleural mesothelioma, which is most often found in men over 75.Despite undergoing a number of tests it went undiagnosed for 17 months, including throughout her pregnancy.

The 41-year-old from Tamworth said she had no idea when she had come into contact with the substance, found in buildings that pre-date 2000, and is calling for more awareness of symptoms among medical professionals and potential sufferers.Ms Scandrett said it was during the fifth week of her second pregnancy in May 2022 that she began to experience a "paralysing" pain in her chest.