Russia cease-fire in two Ukraine areas; Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns ‘if we fall, you fall’: Live updates – USA TODAY

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a rousing speech on video to crowds of demonstrators Friday night in major European cities, Russian forces remain largely stalled in their advance on the capital city of Kyiv.

Zelenskyy urged listeners to rally behind Ukraine in its resistance against Russian invaders, warning them, “if we fall, you fall.”

In the U.S., former Vice President Mike Pence told Republicans “there is no room in this party for apologists for Putin” during an event with the party’s top donors. His comments directly contradict statements made by former President Donald Trump days ago. Trump described Putin as “smart” and “savvy” on the day Russia launched its war against Ukraine.

Latest developments:

► Russian state media reported Saturday that the Russian military will observe a cease-fire in two areas of Ukraine – the strategic port of Mariupol in the southeast and the eastern town of Volnovakha –starting Saturday to allow civilians to evacuate.

► Russia’s media regulator announced Friday that it was blocking access to both Facebook and Twitter across the country.

► Russia’s unprecedented attack on a nuclear power plant sparked worldwide alarm and astonished and worried experts, who are fearful of what the dangerous move could mean moving forward.

► The Winter Paralympics opened Friday in Beijing with the Russian athletes sent home, the Ukrainian team escaping a war zone to get to China and an impassioned call for peace.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. senators set for video conference

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was set to brief U.S. senators on Saturday by video conference as Congress considers a request for $10 billion in emergency funding for humanitarian aid and security needs.

In a bitter and emotional speech late Friday, Zelenskyy criticized NATO over the lack of a no-fly zone, saying it will fully untie Russia’s hands as it escalates its air attack.

“The alliance has given the green light to the bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages,” he said, warning that “the history of Europe will remember this forever.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier in the day ruled out the possibility of a no-fly zone, saying NATO planes would have to shoot down Russian aircraft. A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine.

“The only way to implement a no-fly zone is to send NATO fighter planes into Ukrainian airspace, and then impose that no-fly zone by shooting down Russian planes,” NATO Secretary Stoltenberg said. “We understand the desperation, but we also believe that if we did that, we would end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe.”

— Associated Press

Cease-fire in two Ukraine areas

The Russian military is observing a cease-fire in two areas of Ukraine to allow civilians to evacuate, Russian state media reported Saturday, the first breakthrough in allowing civilians to escape the war.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that it had 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 “from 10 a.m. Moscow time” (8 a.m. GMT.) The vaguely worded statement did not make clear how long the routes would remain open.

A top official in Mariupol said the cease-fire there is to last until 4 p.m. (2 p.m. GMT) and an evacuation along a humanitarian corridor would begin at 11 a.m. (9 a.m. GMT.) Pavlo Kirilenko, head of the Donetsk military-civil administration that includes Mariupol, said the humanitarian corridor would extend from the city to Zaporizhzhia.

The head of Ukraine’s security council, Oleksiy Danilov, had called on Russia to create humanitarian corridors to allow children, women and the older adults to get away from the fighting, calling such corridors “question No. 1.”

— Associated Press

Tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Russia’s forces continue to move within Ukraine’s borders.

Russia reportedly seized Kherson, a key Ukrainian port city on the Black Sea and the first major city to fall. Early Friday, Russian troops seized Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe.

The Russian advance on Kyiv, meanwhile, has remained largely stalled.

Russian propaganda ‘outgunned’ by social media rebuttals

Russian state media is spreading misinformation about the location of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in what analysts said is an attempt to discourage resistance fighters and erode support for Ukraine around the globe.

A story published by the Russian News Agency Tass this week quoted a Russian lawmaker saying Zelenskyy “hastily fled” Kyiv for Lviv in far western Ukraine, despite photos and video clips showing him leading Ukraine’s defense from its capital.

It’s one of many distorted claims to emerge from a Russian propaganda and disinformation campaign that aims to strengthen domestic support for the invasion and undermine the resolve of Ukrainians. But the same tactics that have sustained such propaganda for years are running into a far more complex reality where the claims can be instantly and credibly rebutted on social media.

Videos and photos of Zelenskyy in Kyiv have quickly become some of the defining images of the invasion, rallying support for Ukraine at home and abroad and challenging Russia’s attempt to control public perception.

— Associated Press

Contributing: The Associated Press