Russia has declared a ceasefire in two areas of Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate, according to state media reports.

The Russian defence ministry said in a statement carried by the RIA Novosti and Tass agencies it had agreed to create humanitarian corridors with Ukrainian forces to allow people to leave the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast of the country and the eastern town of Volnovakha.

The evacuation route from Mariupol would be open for five hours on Saturday from 12-5pm Moscow time, according to RIA.

No details were available about the Volnovakha corridor.

The move comes after the head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had called on Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the elderly to escape the fighting, calling such routes “question No 1”.

As Russian forces continued their onslaught, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised NATO for refusing to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning that “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you”.

The alliance says a no-fly zone could spark a wider war in Europe with nuclear-armed Russia.

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