Ukraine's Mariupol says civilian evacuation under ceasefire begins

Highlights:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western sanctions were akin to a declaration of war as his forces pressed their assault on Ukraine on Saturday for a 10th day.
• The number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion could rise to 1.5 million by the end of the weekend from a current 1.3 million, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said.
• Thousands of women and children, many weeping and numb with exhaustion, arrived in Lviv in western Ukraine as the state railway put on more trains to rescue people from fierce Russian attacks on eastern cities.
• The Kremlin said the West was behaving like a bandit by cutting economic relations. President Putin said Western sanctions were akin to a declaration of war and warned any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would lead to catastrophic consequences for the world.
• Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Putin in the Kremlin to discuss the Ukraine crisis, then spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by phone. Israel, home to a substantial population of Russian immigrants, has offered to mediate in the conflict.
• Visa Inc said it was suspending operations in Russia and that Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work in Russia. Mastercard Inc said cards issued by Russian banks will no longer be supported by Mastercard network.
• Spanish fashion retailer Inditex said it has halted trading in Russia, closing its 502 shops and stopping online sales.
• Italian police have seized villas and yachts worth at least 140 million euros ($153 million) from four high-profile Russians who were placed on an EU sanctions list, sources said.
• Russia and Ukraine will hold a third round of talks on Monday about ending hostilities, Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamiya said in a Facebook post, without providing further details.

The city council of Ukraine's Mariupol said an evacuation of some of 400,000 residents trapped by encircling Russian forces began at 12:00pm local time (1000 GMT) on Sunday under a temporary ceasefire that will last till 9:00pm.

"The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol begins at 12:01 p.m. local time. According to the Coordination Center led by head of the Donetsk regional military and civil administration Pavel Kirilenko, a silence regime will be declared today, on March 6, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time," the statement said.

A similar plan had to be abandoned on Saturday after the ceasefire was not fully observed, with both sides trading blame.

Russian forces allegedly continued bombing in Mariupol city defying the ongoing ceasefire to evacuate civilians.

"The Russians are continuing to bomb us and use artillery. It is crazy," Mariupol deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov told the BBC.

"There is no ceasefire in Mariupol and there is no ceasefire all along the route. Our civilians are ready to escape but they cannot escape under shelling."

In a message posted on Telegram, the council said that fighting was taking place in the Zaporizhzhia region, which is where the humanitarian corridor ends.

Ukrainian officials are negotiating with the Russian side to confirm the temporary ceasefire along the entire evacuation route, the message said.