BBC News is increasing access to its independent journalism on the invasion of Ukraine.

Starting March 9th it will make a daily half-hour news bulletin (broadcast at 2000 GMT) available free of charge to other broadcasters who are members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Audiences will get the chance to watch Outside Source, normally presented by Ros Atkins, from Monday to Thursday, and a BBC News bulletin from Friday to Sunday. Given the current news agenda, BBC expects the news to focus on Ukraine and related stories.

BBC News is also launching TikTok accounts exclusively dedicated to videos about the war, in Russian and in English, from today. The handles are @bbcnews and @bbcnewsrussian. TikTok has fast become a crucial platform for information (and disinformation) about the war in Ukraine.

Although TikTok has suspended new content and live-streaming in Russia, we know that audiences find ways of getting to, and sharing, the content.

Jamie Angus, Senior Controller, News Output and Commissioning, says, “Access to trusted, impartial and independent news is never more crucial than in times of conflict. We are always looking to find ways to ensure our news is available to those who need it most, on the platforms where they are. We welcome trusted European public broadcasters who want access to this daily bulletin via our partners at the EBU.”

These moves come amid a large increase in audiences for BBC News. Audiences to the BBC News channel were up 57% last week (w/c 28 February, compared to an average week in 2021).

Updated figures show that in the last week of February, 200 million people turned to the BBC World Service’s digital news in languages other than English. Reach on social media in Russian tripled (with the biggest gains on Facebook) and in Ukrainian more than tripled.

Access to news in Russia is becoming increasingly difficult, so the BBC is continuing to explore ways to make its trusted, impartial news and information available in as many ways as possible.