Ukraine-Russia Conflict: Local ceasefire agreed to evacuate civilians, says Luhansk Governor

The governor of the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday said agreement had been reached on a local ceasefire to evacuate civilians who got trapped by fighting. According to the reports ceasefire would come into force at 9am local time, which is 0700 GMT.

Meanwhile, it's been one month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The UN’s recent data shows that 6.5 million Ukrainians have been internally displaced since the war began. Early on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russian forces of seizing a humanitarian convoy near Mangush west of Mariupol. “Employees of the state emergency service and bus drivers have been taken captive,” he said. However, a senior US defence official informed that Russian forces are now inside Mariupol.

On Tuesday Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged direct talks with Vladimir Putin, saying: “Without this meeting it is impossible to fully understand what they are ready for in order to stop the war.” However, Biden spoke after the Pentagon said it had seen “clear evidence” Russian forces were committing war crimes and that it was helping collect evidence. Biden also warned the US business community of intelligence pointing to a growing Russian cyber threat and urged companies to “immediately” prepare defences.