MAIN HEADLINES

- Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Western sanctions were akin to war, warning that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone in Ukraine would lead to catastrophic consequences for the world.

- The evacuation of Mariupol has been postponed after both sides claimed opposition forces were not observing a partial ceasefire designed to allow humanitarian corridors out of two Ukrainian cities. Aid agencies believe the evacuation will not take place on Saturday.

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has strongly criticized NATO's refusal to implement a no-fly zone over Ukraine. On Saturday he made a "desperate plea" for aircraft, as well as a U.S. ban on Russian oil ban, in a call with US senators. 

- Russia has domestically blocked Facebook, BBC and Deutsche Welle websites and passed a law threatening jail terms of up to 15 years for spreading what they call "fake news" on the conflict. In response, multiple Western media outlets suspended reporting in the country.

-The Biden administration is considering cutting US imports of Russian oil, the White House has said, fast-tracking legislation that could ban Russian energy imports entirely.

- Russia's Foreign Ministry has demanded Washington condemn what it called "terrorist" remarks by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham calling for President Vladimir Putin to be assassinated.

- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Poland's prime minister, foreign minister and several refugees fleeing the conflict near the Ukrainian border on Sarturday. Warsaw used the visit to say it would not accept any territorial changes brought about in Ukraine by "unprovoked, illegal aggression."

- The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine has described the attack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant - Europe's biggest - as a war crime after Russian forces seized the facility this week. Moscow has blamed the fire at the nuclear site on a "Ukrainian sabotage group".

- Russia is discussing plans with Belarus to set up humanitarian corridors that would allow foreigners to leave Ukraine, according to Belarus' foreign ministry. Ukraine's interior ministry said there would likely be more civilian evacuation deals in the future.

- More than 66,000 Ukrainian men have returned from abroad to fight against Russia's forces, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov has announced. 

- Sweden and Finland are set to strengthen their security cooperation in light of the Ukraine conflict, the countries' prime ministers have announced, but both nations remain non-committal on joining NATO.

- At least 350 civilians have been confirmed killed in Ukraine so far, with a further 707 wounded, according to a U.N. monitoring mission. However, the true figures are thought to be "considerably higher".

- Aid agencies have warned that more than 1.5 million refugees could have fled the country by Sunday.

IN DETAIL 

Humanitarian corridors

An evacuation of civilians from the Ukrainian city of Mariupol had been postponed after city authorities said Russian forces were not respecting an agreed ceasefire.

Russia announced a partial halt to the fighting near Mariupol and Volnovakha on Saturday to allow safe passage for civilians fleeing fighting as it continues a broader offensive in Ukraine. 

However, as the five-hour hiatus on fighting went into effect, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych announced that Russia was not observing the agreed ceasefire in certain areas, meaning civilians could not be evacuated. Mariupol's city council have instead asked residents to return to shelters and wait for further information on evacuation.

Russia's defence ministry said that nobody had made use of the two humanitarian corridors and accused Ukrainian "nationalists" of stopping civilians from leaving. It added that Russian forces had come under fire during the ceasefire.

With both Mariupol and Volnovakha encircled by Russian troops and facing heavy shelling, the Ukrainian government had hoped to evacuate around 200,000 people from the first city and a further 15,000 from the second. 

The strategic southeastern port city of Mariupol, which sits between pro-Russian separatist territory in east Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula, came under particular heavy bombardment on Friday night. Local authorities reported there was still no power, water, heating or mobile phone access, while food remains scarce.

Despite the planned ceasefire, Ukraine says Russian forces are still attempting to encircle the key cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv, while aiming to establish a land bridge to Crimea. 

"Economic banditry"

The Kremlin will respond to what Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov described on Saturday as Western "economic banditry" over the Ukraine conflict, but he stressed that Russia was far too big to be excluded from the world economy.

"This does not mean Russia is isolated," Peskov told reporters. "The world is too big for Europe and America to isolate a country, and even more so a country as big as Russia. There are many more countries in the world."

He did not specify Moscow's response to Western sanctions, but said it would be in line with Russian interests. Announcing a meeting next week on Russia's economic situation headed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Peskov added that if the U.S. imposed sanctions on Moscow's energy exports, it would upset global energy markets.

The US is weighing cuts to Russian oil imports and ways to reduce the impact of such a decision on world supplies after global oil prices surged over 20 percent this week amid concern about supply shortages.

Beyond energy, Western companies continue to suspend operations in Russia, including Apple, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BP, clothing retailer H&M and furnishings store IKEA, while payments company PayPal shut down its services early on Saturday morning. 

So far, the rouble has lost a third of its value following unprecedented Western sanctions, freezing much of the central bank's $640 billion in reserves and barring several banks from global payments system SWIFT.

On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Western sanctions were equivalent to war, adding that he wanted a neutral, "demilitarized" and "denazified" Ukraine, adding: "These sanctions that are being imposed are akin to a declaration of war but thank God it has not come to that."

Russia's Foreign Ministry went on to accuse the UK of "sanctions hysteria" over its threats to crackdown on Russian oligarchs in London, vowing tough but proportionate measures against British interests in Russia.

No-fly zones

NATO allies on Friday evening rejected Ukraine's appeal for no-fly zones, saying they were increasing support to Kyiv but that intervening directly could escalate tensions.

"We have a responsibility ... to prevent this war from escalating beyond Ukraine because that would be even more dangerous, more devastating and would cause even more human suffering," said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hit out at the decision, saying "it was clear that not everyone considers the battle for Europe's freedom to be the number one goal".

NATO members are providing military aid to Ukraine's government, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ahead of his visit to Poland this weekend that NATO was seeking to prevent the war from spreading beyond Ukraine.

"We seek no conflict, but if conflict comes to us, we're ready for it," Blinken said, "and we will defend every inch of NATO territory."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused the alliance of giving in to Russian pressure, saying it was not the force that Ukrainians had previously imagined.