A view shows a residential building, which locals say was damaged by recent shelling, in Mariupol, Ukraine February 26, 2022.
Nikolay Ryabchenko | Reuters
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine to allow civilians to leave the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.
The ceasefire is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Moscow time (2 a.m. ET) Saturday, but there was no immediate confirmation that Russian forces’ attacks had stopped.
A Ukrainian official tweeted that a “humanitarian corridor” was being prepared.
“In Mariupol and Volnovakha, humanitarian evacuation corridors are being prepared to open, and columns of evacuees are being formed. The parties temporarily cease fire in the corridor area,” Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine who participated in negotiations with Russian officials this week, said on Twitter.
Mariupol and Volnovakha have been the cause of some of the most intense fighting in Ukraine in recent days.
Their location – in the extreme southeastern corner of Ukraine, near the borders of Russia and Crimea – makes them a strategic target for Moscow. If they fall into Russian hands, their troops could join forces with those in Crimea, a peninsula Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Mariupol is a port city, on the Sea of Azov.
Both cities are located within Donetsk, one of two regions of Ukraine where Russian President Vladimir Putin government recognized as independent right before his army invaded Ukraine.
On Thursday, BBC reported Moscow has encouraged the residents of Mariupol to start leaving the city, but residents said they were unable to move because there was no shelling.
The situation on the ground in Ukraine is extremely volatile, and individual accounts are difficult or impossible to verify.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.
