Russia-Ukraine war latest: Ceasefire talks ‘ongoing’ to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, says Ukraine – live | World news

Footage showing the aftermath of a Russian airstrike in Ukraine’s Bila Tserkva, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast and 60km from the capital:

The number of civilians killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion 10 days ago has reached at least 351, while 707 have been wounded, a UN monitoring mission said in a statement reported by Reuters. The true figures are likely to be “considerably higher”.

Most of the civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket systems, and from missile and air strikes, monitors from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

“OHCHR believes that the real figures are considerably higher, especially in government-controlled territory and especially in recent days, as the receipt of information from some locations where intensive hostilities have been going on was delayed and many reports were still pending corroboration,” it said.

Hundreds of civilian casualties have been alleged in the town of Volnovakha, which had attempted to open a safe evacuation corridor, but have not yet been confirmed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will consider any country that sought to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine as having entered the conflict.

“Any movement in this direction will be considered by us as participation in an armed conflict by that country,” the Russian leader said during a meeting with Aeroflot employees reported by Reuters.

Imposing a no-fly zone would have “colossal and catastrophic consequences not only for Europe but also the whole world”, Putin said.

Putin also dismissed rumours that Moscow plans to declare martial law. “Martial law should only be introduced in cases where there is external aggression … we are not experiencing that at the moment and I hope we won’t,” he said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it understood that evacuations of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha in Ukraine would not start on Saturday, according to Reuters.

“We remain in dialogue with the parties about the safe passage of civilians from different cities affected by the conflict,” the ICRC said in a statement.

“The scenes in Mariupol and in other cities today are heart-breaking. Any initiative from the parties that gives civilians a respite from the violence and allows them to voluntarily leave for safer areas is welcome.”

The plan had been to evacuate around 200,000 people from Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha. The ICRC is the ceasefire’s guarantor.

Only about 400 people were evacuated from Volnovakha and nearby areas during today’s ceasefire, BBC News reports, citing Ukrainian officials.

Authorities had been aiming to evacuate more than 15,000 civilians from the region during the partial ceasefire, which began at 7am GMT.

But regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said: “Although we had the intention and necessary transport to evacuate a lot more people, we had to stop the movement of the column, because the Russians once again started shelling Volnovakha mercilessly, and it was very dangerous to move there.”

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has spoken with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi about Moscow’s “premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war against Ukraine,” a US state department spokesperson said in a statement reported by Reuters.

“The secretary noted the world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty,” spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

“He underscored that the world is acting in unison to repudiate and respond to the Russian aggression, ensuring that Moscow will pay a high price.”

President Vladimir Putin said western sanctions on Russia were akin to a declaration of war, reports Reuters.

He said Moscow needed to defend Russian speakers in Ukraine’s east as well as its own interests.

In televised comments to female flight attendants he said Russia wanted Ukraine to be “demilitarised”, “denazified” and to have neutral status.

He also said he has no plans to declare martial law in Russia, reports AFP:

Sweden and Finland, both of which are not Nato members, have announced that they will further strengthen their security cooperation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters reports that the Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, made the announcement at a joint news conference with Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, today.

The European Union’s peacekeeping force in Bosnia, Eufor, has said that France will conduct fast-jet training flights over Bosnia amid the deteriorating international security situation, reports Reuters.

“The Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier is currently conducting operational training in the Mediterranean Sea and, from Monday 7 March, its Rafale aircraft will conduct overflights of the western Balkans including Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Eufor said.

It comes after the EU last week announced it was increasing its Eufor force from 600 to 1,100 to prevent potential instability following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Bosnia is facing an increasingly assertive Bosnian Serb separatist movement that is understood to have received support from Moscow, the news agency reports. Like Ukraine, Bosnia has long said it wants to join Nato.

About 400 people have been evacuated from the Ukrainian city of Volnovakha, according to reports:

Aeroflot, Russia’s flagship carrier, has announced that it will halt all international flights except to Belarus starting 8 March, reports the Associated Press.

It comes after the country’s aviation agency, Rosaviatsiya, recommended that all Russian airlines with foreign-leased planes stop passenger and cargo flights abroad, citing the high risk of them being impounded as part of western sanctions.

Italian police have seized villas and yachts worth at least €140m (£126m) from four high-profile Russians who were placed on an EU sanctions list after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sources told Reuters today.

A police source said a villa owned by the billionaire businessman Alisher Usmanov on Sardinia, and a villa on Lake Como owned by the Russian state TV host Vladimir Solovyov, had both been seized.

In addition, sources confirmed that yachts belonging to Russia’s richest man, Alexei Mordashov, and Gennady Timchenko, who has close ties with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, were impounded overnight in northern Italian ports.

Thousands have reportedly gathered in the city of Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine, to join territorial defence forces against Russia.

Poland will not recognise any territorial changes brought about by “unprovoked, illegal aggression”, the country’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, has said.

The comments, reported by Reuters, come after talks with US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

More from Kherson, where people have been demonstrating against Russia’s occupation:

Ceasefire talks with Russia are “ongoing” to create a humanitarian corridor out of Mariupol and Volnovakha, Ukraine has said after shelling halted the evacuation of civilians.

“The Russian side is not holding to the ceasefire and has continued firing on Mariupol itself and on its surrounding area,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, reports the Associated Press. “Talks with the Russian Federation are ongoing regarding setting up a ceasefire and ensuring a safe humanitarian corridor.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said Russia breached the deal in Volnovakha as well.

“We appeal to the Russian side to stop firing,” she said.

Zelenskiy has said that they are “doing everything on our part to make the agreement work”. He added: “This is one of the main tasks for today. Let’s see if we can go further in the negotiation process.”