The Russian military had said it will observe a ceasefire in Mariupol in the south-east and the eastern town of Volnovakha from 7am UK time on Saturday, expected to last until 14.00 UK time. However, it appears by midday Vladimir Putin’s forces have failed to adhere to the agreement after the Ukrainian presidential office said evacuations have halted. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said the city of Mariupol remained under fire. “The Russian side is not holding to the ceasefire and has continued firing on Mariupol itself and on its surrounding area,” he said. “Talks with the Russian Federation are ongoing regarding setting up a ceasefire and ensuring a safe humanitarian corridor.” The deputy mayor of Mariupol, Sergei Orlov, speaking before the ceasefire was broken, told ITV News there are 50 buses to ferry up to 6,000 people from his city to Zaporizhzhia, 220 kilometres north-west of Mariupol. That came as the head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had called on Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the elderly to escape the fighting, calling such corridors “question number 1.” Earlier on Saturday, the Russian government accused the West of engaging in “economic banditry” – and warned that Moscow would respond to its actions. The comments were made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov – who didn’t specify what the response might be, but said it would be in line with Russian interests. It comes after the UK, EU and US governments imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Russian institutions and billionaires thought to be close to President Putin. But Peskov said Russia was far too big to be isolated – as the world is “much larger than just the US and Europe”.