Russia-Ukraine crisis: Civilian killings halt fresh evacuation bid

The news dashed hopes of progress in easing, nevertheless ending the war in Ukraine, which is now in its 11 day and has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country.

Plans to evacuate civilians from a besieged port city in Ukraine failed to materialise Sunday for the second time along with an expected Russian ceasefire, a Ukrainian official said, as officials tried to persuade Russia to agree on establishing other evacuation routes near Ukraine's capital.

Residents expected to leave the port city of Mariupol during a 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. local ceasefire, Ukrainian military authorities said earlier in the day. Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said the planned evacuations were halted because of an ongoing assault by Russian troops.

At least three people are reportedly killed fleeing the town of Irpin,