Image source, Getty Images

Turning our attention away from the conflict briefly, Ukraine has topped the medal table on the first day of the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, with three golds and seven medals overall.

The delegation travelled to China despite the Russian invasion, with 20 athletes competing.

Biathlete Grygorii Vovchynskyi claimed Ukraine's first medal in the men's sprint, dedicating his race to peace in Ukraine.

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from competing in the games.

Mariupol is being evacuated as part of a temporary ceasefire. We spoke to Diana Berg, who fled the encircled city on Thursday. Here she describes her extraordinary experience of escaping a “horrifying, terrifying hell”.

“As of yesterday morning, it was the third day of total blackout. The shelling was constant,” she tells Radio 4's Today programme.

Everything from kindergartens to hospitals has been shelled, she says.

Electricity has been cut off - meaning no heat, running water, or connectivity, and no fuel in the petrol stations. People are left in cold, dark buildings.

The power cut has left a “terrifying silence”.

“When there’s a total blockade, total blackout, you cannot know what’s happening. The only news you get is the direction of the shelling - whether it’s on the right or on the left.”

Leaving the city was a “suicide mission”, she says. “It’s a miracle we’re alive."

She and her husband escaped by car, all the time thinking they'd be shot or jailed. On the way out, they encountered two lines of Russian forces.

They saw Russian machines - "not tanks, but big war armed machines" - crossing the roads to go to the fields.

“We just squeezed between two of them very fast. They pointed their [arms] on us... but they didn’t fire," she says.

“Mariupol was a resistance symbol... it was a sign of how Ukraine is not giving up," Diana adds. But now Russia is just "smashing it down".

"They don’t want to occupy it," she says. "They don’t want it to surrender. They just want it dead.”

Russia must not take advantage of an agreed humanitarian corridor to advance its troops, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has warned.

She said her government was "verifying" information that Russian troops were using the ceasefire to move closer to Ukrainian positions in areas along the evacuation routes.

"We are using this channel to evacuate civilians - women and children - as well as to deliver humanitarian cargo to those remaining," she said. "The whole world is watching."

Vereshchuk also confirmed that the International Committee of the Red Cross mediated the talks on the ceasefire, and will head the evacuation columns along the agreed routes out of the cities.

The ceasefire is in place around the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha from 09:00 -16:00 local time (07:00-14:00 GMT).

Image source, .

Joel Gunter
BBC News, Ukraine

Mariupol's deputy mayor Serhiy Orlov has been speaking to the BBC's Joel Gunter, who's in Ukraine.

"Ceasefire negotiations went on through the night," Orlov says.

"The agreement was set up just a few hours ago, it was announced, and we confirmed the ceasefire started at 9am local time.

"We immediately started our procedure to try and get people out. We have arranged 50 buses and we think 5 - 6,000 people can get out by bus to Zaporizhzhia.

"People can also leave by private car we believe. We think in total 7 - 9,000 people can escape by bus and by private car, if the ceasefire holds.

"There are no trains running because railroad infrastructure was destroyed by Russian troops.

"We have no guarantee yet from the Russian side that the ceasefire will continue tomorrow. We are working on this now.

"You have to understand that the city has been without infrastructure for four days, so getting information out to people is difficult."

The evacuation of civilians from Mariupol should now be getting underway, according to the timeline given by the city council.

Buses have been organised to move people to safety from three locations in the city starting at 11:00 local time (09:00GMT).

Residents have also been told that they can use their own transport to safely travel along a specific route north-west to the city of Zaporizhzhia during the ceasefire, which runs from 09:00-16:00 local time (07:00-14:00 GMT).

Mariupol has been blockaded by Russian forces for several days. The ceasefire is also in place around the small city of Volnovakha.

Much of the invasion's analysis has focused on the relatively small size of the Ukrainian military, compared to Russia's.

And, while still dwarfed by Russian forces, more than 66,000 Ukrainian men have returned from abroad to fight for the country, Ukraine's defence minister Oleskii Reznikov says.

One of those who decided to return is Yuriy Vernydub, a 56-year-old football coach who led Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol to a shock victory against Real Madrid in last year's Champion's League.

He said he decided to return the moment his son called to tell him Russia had attacked. He told us his experience of returning home here.

And you can read here about the Ukrainians in the UK going home to fight.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, Russia and Ukraine have agreed a temporary ceasefire in two southern cities to allow civilians to evacuate.

It's the first ceasefire of any kind since Russia invaded Ukraine ten days ago.

While it's good news for the civilians in Mariupol and Volnovakha who wish to leave, these two cities are the only places covered by the temporary agreement.

In the meantime, cities across the country continue to be bombarded.

The evacuation is due to begin in just under an hour, at 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT). We'll bring you the latest updates on it as we get them.

Image source, Getty Images

The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boichenko, has put out an emotional statement after the announcement of a humanitarian corridor from his city.

"Mariupol is not streets and houses", he says. "It is its residents."

He adds: "Under the conditions of constant, ruthless shelling from the occupiers, there is no other choice but to give residents...the opportunity to safely leave Mariupol."

There have been fewer Russian air and artillery strikes over the past 24 hours than in previous days, the UK Ministry of Defence says in its regular intelligence update., external

But it warns Russian forces are probably advancing on the southern port city of Mykolayiv.

Image source, .

However, it says there's a "realistic possibility" that some forces will circumvent Mykolayiv to prioritise progression towards another port, Odesa.

Ukraine continues to hold Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, the update says, while there have been reports of street fighting in the north-eastern city of Sumy.

It's highly likely that all four cities are encircled by Russian forces, the defence ministry says.

We have more information about the temporary ceasefire and evacuation of civilians from the south-eastern city of Mariupol, which has been besieged by Russian forces for several days.

This information is from the Mariupol city council.

• The ceasefire will last from 09:00-16:00 local time (07:00-14:00 GMT)
• The evacuation of civilians will begin at 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT)
• The route of the corridor is from Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia, a city to the west
• Buses will leave three locations in the city, and private transport will also be allowed to travel along the route given
• The city council asks drivers to make full use of all the space they have in their vehicles
• Travelling away from the agreed route is strictly forbidden

Image source, Reuters

Mishal Husain
BBC correspondent on the Poland-Ukraine border

As Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, the UN estimates that more than a million Ukrainians have fled the country for safer territory. More than half of those have poured into Poland - Ukraine's immediate neighbour to the west.

Across the road from a checkpoint near the Polish-Ukrainian border was the queue for those who have no one they can turn to in Poland. Every so often buses turned up to take them to one of the official reception centres.

The one I went to was a huge warehouse-style building with camp beds set out and food and drinks available.

People aren’t staying here for long: there are frequent announcements on transport available to take people on to destinations further west.

This part of Poland is not without economic challenges - there isn’t a lot of work available and one of the few large-scale employers is the makeup brand Inglot.

But there were Polish volunteers at the border crossing: one man working as a marshal told me it was the thought of Ukraine’s children that brought him here.

He also said he was prepared to join the fight against the Russians himself - and had been stopped four times trying to cross into Ukraine to do so.

• Listen to more from Mishal on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme

Image source, Getty Images

We first heard about the temporary ceasefire and humanitarian corridors in two south-eastern Ukrainian cities from the Russian defence ministry - which said it had been agreed with the Ukrainian side.

Now we have official Ukrainian confirmation from the head of the Donetsk region military administration, Pavlo Kirilenko.

He confirms the temporary ceasefire from 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT), and says that his administration is currently working on the details of the evacuation.

Image source, Reuters

Let's look closer at the two Ukrainian cities where a local temporary ceasefire has just started.

Why is Mariupol important? Mariupol - a port city of 450,000 people in the south-east of the country - is encircled by Russian forces and has come under heavy shelling.

If Mariupol falls, it would give Russia control of one of Ukraine's biggest ports and create a land corridor between Crimea - which Russia annexed in 2014 - and the Russian-backed regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

What about Volnovakha? This smaller city is perhaps less familiar. It sits to the north of Mariupol and has also endured heavy clashes since the invasion began.

The city is a key spot as it sits on the road between Mariupol and Russia-controlled Donetsk.

Read more on why Mariupol is key to Russia’s strategy here.

Image source, Reuters/Ukrainian military handout

It's day 10 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine - here's what has happened so far:

• Russia's defence ministry has announced a temporary ceasefire and the opening of humanitarian corridors for civilians from 10:00 Moscow time (07:00 GMT) on Saturday from two cities in south-eastern Ukraine, Mariupol and Volnovakha
• Russia says it has agreed the routes out of the cities with the Ukrainian side, but we haven't seen confirmation of that from Ukraine
• Mariupol is a major port city and has been besieged by Russian forces for several days. There has also been heavy fighting in Volnovakha
• Earlier, the mayor of Mariupol appealed for civilians to be allowed to leave amid what he called a "blockade" by Russian forces
• Elsewhere, the fighting continues. Multiple explosions were heard in Kharkiv, in the north-east of Ukraine
• In the eastern city of Sumy, which is surrounded by Russian troops, shelling began at 05:00 (02:00 GMT) according to Ukrainian media

Although a "temporary ceasefire" has been announced in two cities, the war continues across the country.

Ukrainian media has been reporting explosions and impending air raids in various cities as the Russian assault enters its tenth day.

Shelling in the eastern city of Sumy, currently surrounded by Russian troops, began at 05:00 (02:00 GMT) local time on Saturday, according to news channel Ukraine-24.

The Kyiv Independent outlet reported that multiple explosions were heard in Kharkiv. A resident sheltering in a train station tweeted about rockets hitting the platform as early as 03:00 local time on Saturday.

The Kyiv Independent has also been tweeting about air raid alerts in the capital Kyiv, as well as in Sumy, Zhytomyr, and Chernihiv cities, asking people to go to the nearest shelter.

Russia's defence ministry says humanitarian corridors will open at 10:00 Moscow time (07:00GMT) on Saturday from the cities of Mariupol and Volnovakha.

A "regime of quietness" will be implemented for the civilian population to leave the cities and has been agreed with the Ukrainian authorities, the defence ministry said according to Russian media.

However, we haven't seen any confirmation from the Ukrainian side as yet.

Earlier, Mariupol's mayor Vadym Boichenko called for a humanitarian corridor, external amid an ongoing blockade and what he has called "ruthless attacks" by Russian troops.

Image source, @AyBurlachenko/Reuters

Mishal Husain
BBC correspondent on the Poland-Ukraine border

Image source, Getty Images

Reporting from Poland for the BBC's Today programme:

I saw a steady stream of people coming into Poland from Ukraine at one of the points where you can cross on foot. Most were in small groups, families but also people who had met on the journey.

I asked one young man, Nikita, how he had managed to avoid the restrictions on men of fighting age leaving Ukraine - he told me he would be 18 in a month and thus had a small window to get out. After the arrivals pass through a white tent on the Polish side, some are met by relatives or friends -or travel on alone if they know where they are going and have the means to fund their onward journey.

Ilona, a manicurist from Kyiv, was poised at first but broke down when she spoke of the husband she had left behind. The woman next to her was traveling with a child, her seven-year-old daughter Liza, who she said now knew all about Putin and being under attack. This group was being hosted by a Ukrainian friend living in Poland, Yevgeny, who was there to greet them but is desperately worried about his own wife and daughter who are in Mariupol. It’s been under bombardment and he has no way of getting them out.

The only comfort at the moment is that they are still in phone contact.

Kevin Connolly
Europe correspondent, Brussels

Image source, Getty Images

It's time to stop saying that it is somehow unbelievable that this can be happening in 2022.

It is no more unbelievable now than it was in 1914 or 1939.

Peace is always fragile - and what happens even in the most distant corners of Europe will always affect all of us.

But drawing the right lessons from big moments when everything changes is not easy.

The question for our generation is whether or not we miscalculated how to handle Russia when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Western Europe's main reaction to the end of the Cold War was to take a 30-year holiday from serious defence spending.

But this new age of containment is going to call for much more.

Here's why.

Image source, .

The BBC has verified footage of Russian attack helicopters firing in the port city of Mariupol which has been under siege since Thursday.

The southern city, home to more than 400,000 people, is close to the Russian border - and key to creating a land corridor that allows Russian-backed rebels in Luhansk and Donetsk to join forces in Crimea.

It has been surrounded, and power and water supplies have been cut off amid a sustained onslaught of shelling.

City officials have warned of a humanitarian crisis.

Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay, along with four of his colleagues, was driving back to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday when they were ambushed by what they were told were Russian forces.

Now back in the UK, here is his description of the incident in his own words:

"I do recall wondering if my death was going to be painful. And then I was hit in the lower back.

"'I've been hit!' I shouted. But what amazed me was that it didn't hurt that bad. It was more like being punched, really.

"It was strange, but I felt very calm.

"I managed to put my helmet on, and was about to attempt my escape, when I stopped and reached back into a shelf in the door and retrieved my phones and my press card, unbelievably.

"[My colleague] Richie says I then got out of the car and stood up, before jogging to the edge of the embankment and then started running.

"I lost my balance and fell to the bottom, landing like a sack of potatoes, cutting my face. My armour and helmet almost certainly saved me.

"The point is we were very lucky. But thousands of Ukrainians are dying, and families are being targeted by Russian hit squads just as we were, driving along in a family saloon and attacked.

"This war gets worse by the day."