The Ministry of Defence in Russia has announced that it will stop its bombardment of parts of Ukraine on Saturday, to allow for civilians to safely flee.

In a statement on March 5, the Russian side declared a ceasefire regime and opens humanitarian corridors for the exit of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha. Humanitarian corridors and exit routes have been agreed with the Ukrainian side.

Attacks on civilians: Western officials have noticed a shift in Russian strategy from military targets to civilians, with more attacks becoming focused on population centres. The new approach comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to get the quick victory he wanted, and the Russian military has faced stiff and determined Ukrainian resistance across the country.

Some additional context: Ukrainian and Russian delegations held the second round of talks in Belarus on Thursday. A Ukrainian negotiator said afterwards that it didn’t deliver the results that Ukraine needed — both sides had agreed on corridors for civilians to escape.

Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that the third round of talks has been scheduled for this weekend.

CNN

Meanwhile, the ceasefire agreed between Russia and Ukraine – to allow civilians to evacuate two south-eastern Ukrainian cities – has fallen apart, just hours after it was announced.

The major port city of Mariupol and the smaller city of Volnovakha have been under extremely heavy shelling for several days.

But Saturday began on a more positive note – with the announcement that civilians would be allowed to leave along agreed routes between the hours of 09:00 – 16:00 local time (07:00 – 14:00 GMT). A ceasefire was to be in force at the same time.

However, not long after it began, the Ukrainian side accused Russian troops of taking advantage of the ceasefire to advance their positions.

Then we got reports of fighting around the city of Orikhiv, which is on the route out of Mariupol (see map).

According to the BBC Russian forces were still shelling the area.

Finally, Mariupol’s city council announced that the evacuation of civilians had been postponed because their safety could no longer be guaranteed.

Russia’s ministry of defence says the ceasefire was broken when Ukrainian “nationalists” fired on its troops.