These are the key events so far from Saturday, March 5.
Russia continues broad offensive in Ukraine
- Russian troops are continuing a broad offensive in Ukraine, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying.
Partial ceasefire declared; evacuation effort halted
- Russia will allow a humanitarian corridor from 10am Moscow time, the defence ministry has said. The corridor will be opened for residents of southeastern Ukraine’s Mariupol and Volnovakha as part of a partial ceasefire to allow civilians to leave. However, later on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said the evacuation effort in Mariupol had been stopped because the city remained under fire. Russia, meanwhile, accused Ukrainian “nationalists” of preventing civilians from leaving.
The city of Mariupol has no water, heating
- The eastern Black Sea port is without water and heating, and food is scarce, its mayor said, appealing for military help. “We are simply being destroyed.”
The city of Chernihiv comes under bombardment
- A large explosion has lit up the night sky in Chernihiv, as Russia continues to press on with its assault on the strategic Ukrainian city that lies 143km (88 miles) from the capital, Kyiv.
Nearing Kyiv
- Russian forces inch closer to the capital Kyiv from the north but encounter stiff resistance along the way, including in Kyiv’s western suburbs.
Kremlin terms West’s actions ‘like bandits’
- The Kremlin says the West is behaving like bandits but that Russia is far too big to be isolated as the world is much larger than just the US and Europe.
