After Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address, explosions and gunfire were heard through the day in Ukraine’s capital and elsewhere in the country, with at least 70 people reported killed. Here is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: latest news.
Appearing on television from an undisclosed location, Ukraine’s President warned the world that Vladimir Putin was attacking not only his country but waging “a war against Europe,” and he said the West is not doing enough to stop it.
Overnight, the city was hit by blasts, with at least one block of flats damaged and several injured. Russia has denied carrying out strikes.
The unnamed source at Russia’s defense ministry also said a plane shot down over Kyiv was Ukrainian. Ukraine has said the jet was Russian.
As the second day of fighting began, Moscow – which is attacking from the east, north, and south – appeared to have Kyiv firmly insights. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said ‘the enemy” was trying to put Kyiv “on its knees”.
On Friday afternoon, Russia’s defense ministry announced it had captured the Antonov airport, using 200 helicopters and a landing force in order to take the base to the north of Kyiv from Ukraine.
U.N. condemns “arbitrary arrests” of anti-war protests in Russia
The United Nations condemned numerous “arbitrary arrests” of people in Russia for protesting the country’s invasion of Ukraine and urged their immediate release.
“Arresting individuals for exercising their rights to freedom of expression or a peaceful assembly constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of liberty,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
EU threatens Russia with further sanctions
The European Union’s executive arm has warned Moscow that the bloc could impose further sanctions on Russia, a day after its leaders agreed on a robust package of measures in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
“When it comes to the sequencing of packages we have always said we have a massive package prepared and we will be applying this package in a progressive way, responding to concrete actions by Russia, and we are not at the end,” European Commission spokesman Peter Stano told a daily news conference.
Ukraine requests human rights meeting
Ukraine has requested that an urgent debate on the humanitarian situation in the country be held at the UN human rights council.
The request was made in response to “the extremely grave deterioration” of the situation in the country, Ukraine’s UN envoy Yevheniia Filipenko said.
Ukrainian official says 2,800 Russian troops killed
Ukraine’s deputy defense minister has claimed that approximately 2,800 Russian troops have been killed in fighting so far.
Ukrainian forces have also destroyed about 80 Russian tanks, 516 armored combat vehicles, 10 aircraft, and 7 helicopters.
Russia ready for talks with Ukraine
Putin is ready to send a delegation to the Belarusian capital Minsk for talks with Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says.
Peskov told Russian news agencies that the contingent of officials could include representatives from the country’s foreign and defense ministries.
His remarks came after an adviser of Zelenskyy suggested Kyiv was ready for talks with Moscow, including on adopting a neutral status regarding NATO.
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