Mariupol evacuation to begin at 9am GMT
The Ukraine port city of Mariupol will be evacuated at 9am GMT, the city’s mayor has confirmed.
It follows the news that a ceasefire will be imposed to allow Ukrainian civilians to escape the shelling.
Paypal suspends all Russian services
Payments company PayPal Holdings Inc shut down its services early on Saturday in Russia, citing “the current circumstances” of the invasion of Ukraine.
“Under the current circumstances, we are suspending PayPal services in Russia,” President and Chief Executive Dan Schulman said in a statement.
He added that the company “stands with the international community in condemning Russia’s violent military aggression in Ukraine.”
A company spokesperson said PayPal will support withdrawals “for a period of time, ensuring that account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws and regulations.
PayPal, which had only allowed cross-border transactions by users in Russia, stopped accepting new users in the country on Wednesday.
Ukrainian government officials had been calling on PayPal to quit Russia and help them with fundraising.
PayPal said on Friday that “since the beginning of the invasion, PayPal has helped raise over $150 million for charities supporting response efforts in Ukraine, one of the largest efforts we’ve seen in such a short period of time.
Humanitarian corridors to open
Russian state news agencies report the Russian military will observe a ceasefire in two areas of Ukraine starting Saturday to allow civilians to evacuate.
The Russian Defense Ministry says in a statement carried by the RIA Novosti and Tass agencies it has agreed on evacuation routes with Ukrainian forces to allow civilians to leave the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha.
There is no immediate confirmation from Ukrainian forces, and it is not immediately clear how long the evacuation routes would remain open.