Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine, IgbereTV reports.
Ceasefire in two cities
Russia’s defence ministry announces a ceasefire to allow civilians in the besieged port city of Mariupol and the town of Volnovakha to evacuate. Mariupol’s mayor Vadim Boychenko says evacuations will begin at 0900 GMT.
The strategic city of 450,000 people on the Azov Sea, which has suffered intense shelling, has been without electricity, food, water and heating for days in the depth of winter.
Nuclear plant fire
A fire at Europe’s biggest nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia is put out, with Ukraine accusing Russia of “nuclear terror” in shelling the plant.
Russian troops later take over the site of the reactors, which generate a fifth of Ukraine’s electricity, after firefighters say they were prevented from reaching the blaze for hours.
West slams ‘recklessness’
At a United Nations Security Council meeting, the US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says Russia’s “reckless” overnight attack “represents a dire threat to all of Europe and the world”.
Moscow’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia denies that Russian forces had shelled the plant, saying the statements “are simply untrue”.
Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), offers to travel to Ukraine to negotiate with Ukraine and Russia on ensuring the safety of nuclear sites.
