Image source, AFP

Ukraine's deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk has announced plans to evacuate civilians from besieged parts of Ukraine through seven humanitarian corridors today.

One of those corridors is planned for the devestated southern city of Mariupol, but Vereshchuk said it would be limited to private transport out of the city rather than buses.

Vereshchuk said there were plans to use buses to evacuate Mariupol residents out of the city of Berdyansk.

As we've been reporting, the Red Cross has been struggling in its attempts to evacuate people from Mariupol, where an estimated 160,000 are believed to be trapped.

Earlier the agency said it would be making another attempt today to help people leave after yesterday it failed to get security guarantees for 54 buses it wanted to send into the city.

Image source, Getty Images

An update just in on today's renewed attempt by the Red Cross to evacuate civilians out of Mariupol, where 160,000 people are estimated to be trapped.

"Our team is on the move this morning from Zaporizhzhia to Mariupol. I'm not able to give further information at this stage," a Red Cross spokesperson has said.

Yesterday the agency said it had to abandon its plans to send 54 buses and many cars to the city after it failed to get security guarantees for the convoy, retreating to the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Image source, Reuters

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have agreed on a plan to evacuate civilians out of the besieged city of Mariupol at peace talks in Istanbul, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

"Our delegation has reached an agreement in Istanbul to provide evacuations," Oleksiy Arestovych told Ukrainian television.

He added: "I think that today or maybe tomorrow we will hear good news, regarding the evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol."

This morning Ukraine's deputy prime minister announced seven humanitarian corridors were planned for today, but said the one out of Mariupol would be limited to private transport.

Moscow has begun shifting its attention from the capital and the north in general - trying, instead, to encircle Ukraine's forces in the east of the country.

Its army is moving south, taking control of the city of Izyum and bombarding a succession of towns to the east. Eventually, it hopes to move further south still.

But what is it that Russia wants with this region, known as the Donbas? On paper at least, the aim is to "liberate" its Russian-speaking majority.

Image source, .

The question remains: can Moscow's forces defeat the Ukrainian army here and - crucially - do the people of this former coal and steel-producing region want to be liberated?

As the BBC's Paul Kirby has been finding out, a shared language may not be enough to win the region's loyalty.

Read more:Why Russia is trying to encircle Ukraine's east

Russian shelling overnight has hit several residential buildings in the city of Lysychansk and the nearby town of Toshkivka, according to Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.

The number of victims is being determined, he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned early on Saturday that the east of the country of "hard battles ahead".

As we've been reporting, Russian troops have been regrouping - pulling out of areas in the north near the capital, Kyiv, with the idea of focusing on the east and south.

A total of 2,437,000 people have fled Ukraine to Poland since the war began, the Polish Border Guard said on Saturday.

Numbers crossing the border have fallen significantly with Friday seeing the second-lowest number of crossings since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

And increasing numbers are going back to Ukraine - 421,000 people have entered Ukraine via Poland since the war began, the agency said. On Friday alone, 15,000 people crossed into Ukraine from Poland.

Overall, more than 10 million people have now fled their homes in Ukraine, according to the the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

As well as the four million who have left for neighbouring countries, another estimated 6.5 million people are thought to be displaced inside the war-torn country itself.

See here for details of where people have gone to.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

The United Nations' cultural agency, Unesco, says at least 53 culturally important sites have been damaged since the start of the war.

That includes 29 churches, 16 historical buildings, four museums and four monuments.

Several damaged sites are in Ukraine's two largest cities - Kyiv and Kharkiv - but also in Chernihiv, one of its oldest.

"This is the latest list, but it is not exhaustive, as our experts are continuing to verify a number of reports," a spokesperson was quoted as telling the AFP news agency.

Unesco says it is using satellite images and witness reports to verify the damage.

Russian forces have reportedly withdrawn from Hostomel Airport, near Ukraine's capital, which has been subject to fighting since the start of the conflict, according to UK military intelligence.

"Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv," the UK's Ministry of Defence said in its early morning briefing on Saturday.

"Along the eastern axis, Ukraine has re-taken several villages. In the east of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have secured a key route in eastern Kharkiv after heavy fighting," the ministry added.

Hostomel has seen heavy fighting since 24 February, when Russian airborne troops came in by helicopter to seize a cargo airport as a bridgehead.

Hostomel is a small and strategically important town. Prior to the war, it was home to Ukraine's most important international cargo airport and a key military airbase.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will renew its attempts today to evacuate residents from the shattered city of Mariupol.

Yesterday, the humanitarian group had to call off its rescue efforts after “arrangements and conditions made it impossible” for their convoy to proceed.

The group had planned to send 54 buses and many cars to help evacuate thousands flee the city - which has been encircled by Russian troops and has seen the most intense bombing.

A Red Cross spokesman on Friday said they hadn’t received guarantees the route they’d take would be safe, so had retreated to Zaporizhzhia.

“They will try again on Saturday to facilitate the safe passage of civilians from Mariupol."

But “it is critical that the parties respect the agreements and provide the necessary conditions and security guarantees”.

There have been several evacuation attempts in the past month which also failed or were called off. Ukraine has accused Russia of attacking fleeing civilians on multiple occasions - something Moscow denies.

An estimated 160,000 people remain trapped in Mariupol – where they’re short of food, water, medicine and electricity. At least 5,000 residents have been killed so far in the attacks, local officials say.

Masyanya, the mischievous and witty heroine of an animated series online, is popular among Russians -over a million people are subscribed to the YouTube cartoon.

But the latest episode - a comment about the war in Ukraine - has provoked both praise and threats.

Soon after it came out, racking up three million views, Russian authorities banned it - saying it "discredits" Russia's Armed Forces.

The BBC spoke to the cartoon's creator, Oleg Kuvaev, who emigrated from Russia to Israel years ago but still creates art about his country. He said he was interested in how "war hysteria transforms the minds of ordinary people, making them blind to the truth".

The latest assessment of Russia's campaign by the Institute of War, external think-tank reiterates the idea that Russia's efforts have now swung to the east of Ukraine.

Key takeaways from the report:

• Russia has revised its campaign plan after a month where it failed to seize Kyiv and other cities
• The Kremlin’s claim that its main target was always eastern Ukraine is false, the thinktank says, and intended to mask the failure of its first campaign
• Russia’s main operations are now concentrated on eastern Ukraine – where it wants to capture the entire Donestsk and Luhansk regions
• Russia will likely capture Mariupol in coming days, but continue to suffer casualties
• Ukraine took back large areas north-west and east of Kyiv, but Russia was able to withdraw its damaged forces in time into Belarus

A senior Chinese diplomat has dismissed the notion that his country is working around sanctions on Russia, a day after EU leaders warned China against doing so.

Wang Lutong, from China’s foreign ministry, said Beijing was helping the global economy through continued trade with Russia.

But Western nations have expressed concerns about Beijing’s reluctance to condemn Russia’s invasion – and have fears Beijing could offer support to Russia to lessen the impact of the sanctions.

On Friday, European Commission chief Ursual von der Leyen warned the business sector in Europe was watching China’s actions closely.

Mark Urban
Newsnight Defence and Diplomatic Editor

Image source, None

In any war, there are units that distinguish themselves and others that become symbolic of failure.

The 331st Guards Parachute Regiment had high hopes of being the first, but now represents the disintegration of Russia's plan for a quick war.

Using open source material, the BBC has found that at least 40 members of the elite regiment have died.

The men were part of a column that advanced into Ukraine from Belarus, led by Russia's airborne forces.

Their advance on Kyiv was swiftly drawn into a destructive stalemate in districts on the outskirts of the capital city.

Read more here

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The US has cancelled the test launch of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, Reuters reports.

With a range of nearly 10,000km, the nuclear-capable missile is a key component of the American military's arsenal.

Its test was first delayed by the Pentagon on 2 March, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin placed his own nuclear forces on high alert.

At the time, the US said it was taking steps to minimise "the risk of miscalculation", but was only delaying the test "a little bit".

An Air Force spokesperson said the cancellation was for the same reasons, but added: "The Air Force is confident in the readiness of the strategic forces of the United States."

Image source, Getty Images

The US says it will provide an additional $300m ($229m) in security assistance to Ukraine.

The latest package includes laser-guided rocket systems, tactical drones, Humvees, night vision goggles, machine guns and medical supplies.

That means the US has now committed $1.6bn (£1.2bn) to Kyiv since the war began more than five weeks ago.

In a statement, the Department of Defence said the new funding "represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide new capabilities to Ukraine's Armed Forces".

Also on Friday, the Department of Commerce imposed sanctions on 120 entities in the Russian and Belarusian defence, aerospace and maritime sectors.

“Vladimir Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine has isolated his country and economy from global commerce, and today’s action furthers that isolation," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.

Image source, Reuters

If you're in need of a recap, here are some of the major developments over the past 24 hours:

• The BBC has seen evidence of potential war crimes on the outskirts of Kyiv
• Moscow has begun shifting its attention from Kyiv and the north in general, trying instead to encircle Ukraine's forces in the east
• Ukrainian forces are successfully regaining territory in several areas via counter-attack

• Russia accused Ukraine of being responsible for an attack on an oil depot in its city of Belgorod; Ukraine denied the attack and hinted it could be a Russian false flag operation
• Russia will not cut off gas exports to Europe yet in a standoff over its demand to be paid in roubles
• Ukraine says more than 3,000 civilians were safely evacuated from the besieged port city of Mariupol on Friday, with more expected on Saturday

• The World Trade Organization has halved its global trade growth forecast citing the impact of the war

Read more in our daily Ukraine roundup

Image source, Getty Images

The US has reportedly been sending personal protective equipment (PPE) to Ukraine at the country's request in preparation for any potential chemical weapons attack during the war.

A spokesperson for President Joe Biden's National Security Council confirmed to Politico that "life-saving equipment and supplies" had been deployed.

The PPE is thought to include gas masks, hazmat suits and other materials.

How much the US plans to send was not immediately clear, but the spokesperson said "this assistance does not compromise our domestic preparedness".

Moscow and the West have traded accusations in recent weeks that chemical weapons and bio-weapons might be deployed. US officials fear Russia could be planning a false flag operation around the use of such weapons.

More on that address from President Zelensky.

He touted the successful evacuation of civilians on Friday through humanitarian corridors in three regions: Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

Nearly half of the more than 6,000 evacuees fled the besieged port city of Mariupol, he said.

"We are separately agreeing on the removal of the wounded and dead from the city," Zelensky noted, adding Turkey was mediating between Russia and Ukraine on the issue.

Image source, Presidential Administration

In his Saturday morning address, President Zelensky had a message for pro-Russian leaders installed in occupied cities: they won't last long.

Referring to the leadership takeovers as a "very silly April Fool's joke", he described the leaders as temporary "Gauleiters" - a reference to district leaders in Nazi Germany.

"My message to them is simple: the responsibility for collaboration is inevitable," he said.

"Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow is a secondary issue. The main thing is the inevitability that justice will be restored."

Zelensky said that Moscow had been "threatening employees of enterprises and authorities to co-operate with these deceived appointees".

But he said any co-operation with such leaders would come with consequences.

"There will be problems for co-operation with them or with the occupiers directly. This is the final warning."

Image source, Presidential Administration

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the military situation in the east of the country "remains extremely difficult".

In a Saturday morning video address, external, he said Russian troops were withdrawing in the north, at a "slow but noticeable" rate.

But, he warned, they were accumulating and "preparing for new powerful blows" in the Donbas region and in the city of Kharkiv.

"Hard battles lie ahead. We cannot think that we have already passed all the tests."