Ukraine forced to halt evacuation of civilians as Russian ceasefire fails

A ceasefire to evacuate residents from two cities in Ukraine has quickly fallen apart, with officials saying work to remove civilians had halted amid shelling hours after Russia announced the deal. The Russian defence ministry said early on Saturday that it had agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces for Mariupol, a strategic port in the south east, and the eastern city of Volnovakha. The vaguely worded statement did not make clear how long the routes would remain open. But a short time later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said the ceasefire had already failed.