UKRAINE WAR: LATEST

• Russia has said it does not want to negotiate with the Ukrainian government until the military operation is over
• He came after Zelensky called for a sit-in with Putin to end the fighting
• Ukraine has said Russia has bombed 33 civilian sites in Kyiv in the past 24 hours
• Two children were killed in the attack in Kyiv last night
• Ukraine bans men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country to enlist in the armed forces
• Zelenski allowed anyone of any age to join the armed forces and called on Europeans from other countries to come and join the battle.
• Russia is sending paratroopers to Chernobyl after capturing it yesterday, Moscow said
• Ukraine has reported “abnormal” levels of radiation at the plant amid fears that the nuclear storage facility was breached during the battle, but Moscow said the readings were normal.
• Russia claims to have destroyed 118 Ukrainian military sites in 30 hours of fighting
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised more support in Ukraine in the coming days
• Johnson shared a phone call with Zelensky on Friday morning

Ukrainian border guards, who told a Russian warship to crash before everyone was blown up in a devastating missile strike, were filmed in the final frame before the bombs rained down.

The soldiers signed up to talk about the shells crashing into the rocks and the enemy’s position on Snake Island, near Odessa, in the Black Sea.

One said he thought the ship was “trying to scare us”, while the other added “nothing was destroyed” just before they were bombed and died.

An audio recording of a small contingent of heroic soldiers facing a huge Russian warship appeared last night, with a radio chat between them showing men refusing to surrender to Vladimir Putin’s forces.

An officer of the warship told the soldiers: “This is a Russian warship. I suggest you lay down your arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary casualties. Otherwise you will be bombed. ‘

But the Ukrainians – reportedly 13 – defiantly refused to give up the territory, with one of them replying: “Get out!”

Russian soldiers muttered the curse back on the radio before destroying the small group of men, and their deaths were later acknowledged by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

Elsewhere in the crisis:

• Russia has said it does not want to negotiate with the Ukrainian government until its military operation is over;
• Authorities in Ukraine claim that Russia has bombed 33 civilian sites in the capital Kyiv in the last 24 hours;
• Two children were reported killed in the Kyiv bombing that night, while hundreds of thousands were displaced;
• Ukraine has already banned men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country to enlist in the armed forces;
• Russia is sending paratroopers to Chernobyl after capturing it yesterday, Moscow said in an update.

All Ukrainian border guards manning a tiny island in the Black Sea near Romania were killed on Thursday after telling a Russian warship to ‘go f*** yourselves’ when they were told to surrender

The small contingent of 13 soldiers is said to have been stationed on Snake Island in the Odessa region and defended the territory after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The island is ruled by Ukraine, but is only miles off the coast of Romania, a NATO member

All Ukrainian border guards occupying the small Black Sea island of Snake near Romania were killed on Thursday after telling a Russian warship to “poop” when ordered to surrender.

Firefighters are working in a damaged residential building on Kosice Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell is believed to have struck on February 25, 2022.

Fire fighters are seen responding to a blaze at a residential building in Kyiv in the early hours of Friday

The Kyiv apartment block is seen ablaze on Friday morning. It is unclear what caused the fire

Kyiv was set on fire in the early hours of Friday when the city was attacked by Russia. Adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashenko shared on social networks footage of a fire in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, in the southeastern part of the city on the left bank of the Dnieper River

Russian ships block Kerch Strait: Putin orders Russian navy to conduct “special anti-terrorist operation” in the Sea of ​​Azov, closing vital sea trade route to Ukraine

The new video captures the last moments of the small Ukrainian army on Snake Island, which is close to NATO member Romania.

In the last moments before the bloodbath, the video shows border guards as the Russian warship fires on rocks.

One says: “They hit here and there [with their missiles]. They are trying to scare us or what …? So far nothing has been destroyed. They can’t understand what they are doing, they are probably trying to scare us. They hit the rocks. ‘

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine later announced that the island of Snake, also called Zmiinyi, had been attacked by Russian forces and confirmed that the men had been killed. Russia has said it has taken over the land.

The island was ruled by Ukraine, but is only miles off the coast of Romania. This is strategically important because it will allow Russia to claim territorial waters extending 12 nautical miles to the sea.

Russian tanks will hit Kyiv TODAY as the war enters ‘its hardest day’, official warns, with troops already fighting on outskirts. US intel warns of plan to fly in 10,000 paratroopers and ‘decapitate’ government

Russian troops will arrive in Kyiv today and are now fighting just 20 miles from the outskirts, an official said after US intelligence warned of a plan to seize an airport, raise troops and “decapitate” the government.

Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the country’s interior minister, said Friday would be “the hardest day” in the war, as Russian armor descends from Chernigov – northeast of the capital – and Ivankov – to the northwest – in an attempt to encircle the city where President Vladimir Zelensky is still hiding.

Once the city is surrounded, US intelligence believes the plan will be for Russian special forces to move and take over an airport – probably Sikorski or Borispol – which will then be used to fly much more force than up to 10,000 paratroopers. who will attack the capital.

The paratroopers’ job will be to enter the city, find Zelensky, his ministers and parliamentarians before forcing them to sign a peace deal restoring control of the country back to Russia or a Moscow-backed puppet regime – effectively ending the war without Putin’s ground forces are facing severe and bloody problems in capturing and occupying the entire country.

The Russians appear to have almost carried out the plan on Day 1 of the invasion, when 20 helicopter attackers landed a team of troops at Antonov Airport, 15 miles north of Kyiv, where they spent the day in battle.

But units of the Ukrainian National Guard recaptured the runway overnight, scattering surviving Russian attackers in the area.

Russia’s attack on the capital is likely to be coordinated with pressure from troops on the southern and eastern fronts – Crimea and Donbas – to pressure Ukrainian forces so they can’t retreat and fortify the city, author Michael Weiss said. .

It could also be accompanied by bombings and sabotage attacks on power grids and infrastructure to sow panic and force people to flee, growling roads and hindering the movement of forces already in Kyiv.

They cover important shipping channels to the port cities of Odessa, Nikolaev and Kherson.

Following the conquest of the island, Russia could suspend shipping by isolating Ukraine from international markets and depriving its economy of vital trade revenues while seeking to protect itself.

Russia is pushing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital today after launching air strikes on cities and military bases and sending troops and tanks from three countries in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.

The blasts came before dawn in Kyiv, when Western leaders scheduled an emergency meeting and Ukraine’s president called for international aid.

The nature of the explosions was not immediately clear, but the blasts came amid signs that the capital and Ukraine’s largest city are increasingly threatened after a day of fighting that killed more than 100 Ukrainians.

Zelensky said the government had information that “subversive groups” were encroaching on the city, and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Kyiv “could be under siege” in what US officials believe was a brazen attempt by Putin to impose a puppet regime.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told lawmakers by telephone that Russian mechanized forces that had entered from Belarus were about 20 miles from Kyiv, according to a person familiar with the call.

The weeks-long attack, expected by the United States and Western allies in the face of international condemnation and cascading sanctions, is the largest land war in Europe since World War II.

Russian missiles bombed cities and military bases on the first day of the attack, and Ukrainian authorities said they had lost control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Civilians gathered in trains and cars to flee.

The Ukrainian capital was bombed in the early hours of Friday, and the skies were on fire as Putin’s tanks moved about 20 miles from Kyiv.

The Deputy Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that a missile was fired from the sky by their missile defense systems. Another rocket hit a residential building in the city, the government said.

Ukraine has 125 fighter jets, including 4th generation Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29 fighters, according to the Military Balance 2021. Russia has more than 1,500 fighter jets.

The adviser of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Anton Gerashenko shared on social networks footage of a fire in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, in the southeastern part of the city on the left bank of the Dnieper River. It is unclear whether the fire in Darnytskyi was caused by a downed Ukrainian plane or Russian missiles.

Hours earlier, Zelensky was furious with Western cowards who failed to come to his aid, saying his country was “left alone” to stand up to Russian troops. Authorities warn that Kyiv will be taken over this weekend.

In a video address to his nation after midnight, the president called his dead compatriots “heroes” after 137 were killed on the first day of fighting, and insisted he would stay until the bitter end.

He said: “They are killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets. This sucks and will never be forgiven. We were left alone to defend our country. Who is ready to fight with us? I don’t see anyone.

“Who is ready to guarantee Ukraine’s membership in NATO?” Everyone is afraid. ‘

He added that the enemy had already entered Kyiv and called on residents to be vigilant and abide by curfew rules, acknowledging that he was “target number one”.

As the blasts erupted in Kyiv early Friday, hotel guests were directed to a makeshift basement shelter. Air raid sirens also sounded.

“Russia is on the path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself and will not give up its freedom,” Zelensky wrote on Twitter.

His perception of power is weakening, he called on Thursday for even tougher sanctions than those imposed by Western allies and ordered a full military mobilization that will last 90 days.

EU blocks our attempt to punish Russia: Anger as union refuses to oust Moscow from global banking system, while West imposes sanctions over war in Ukraine

The European Union faced an angry reaction last night after disappointing Britain’s efforts to oust Russia from the world’s largest financial payment system.

In a conversation with G7 leaders yesterday, Boris Johnson called for stopping Russia from Swift, which is used to carry out about half of its international trade.

But the move was kicked out of the grass because of resistance from a number of EU countries.

Yesterday, Ukraine called on the West to make the move, with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warning that those who refused would have “blood on their hands”.

Downing Street yesterday declined to comment on which countries opposed the move.

But Joe Biden said last night that the opposition came from EU countries. Asked if Russia should be torn away from Swift, the US president said: “This is always an option, but at the moment this is not a position that the rest of Europe wants to take.”

The Belgian-based global interbank financial telecommunications company (Swift) is a mechanism for making secure payments abroad and is widely used in international trade.

Zelenski said in a video message that 137 “heroes”, including 10 military officers, had been killed and 316 wounded. Among those killed were border guards on Snake Island in the Odessa region, which was captured by the Russians.

He concluded his emotional speech by saying that “the fate of the country depends entirely on our army, security forces, all our defenders.” He also said the country had heard from Moscow that “they want to talk about Ukraine’s neutral status.”

Biden was scheduled to meet Friday morning with fellow NATO leaders in what the White House described as an “extraordinary virtual summit” to discuss Ukraine.

Joe Biden has announced new sanctions against Russia, saying Putin “chose this war” and has shown a “sinister” view of a world in which nations take what they want by force. Other nations have also announced sanctions or said they will soon.

“It has always been a matter of blatant aggression, of Putin’s desire for an empire by all means necessary – by harassing Russia’s neighbors through coercion and corruption, by changing borders by force and ultimately by choosing war for no reason,” Biden said. .

Blinken said in television interviews that he was convinced that Russia intended to overthrow the Ukrainian government, telling CBS that Putin wanted to “restore the Soviet empire” and that Kyiv was already “threatened and could be under siege.”

Fearing a Russian attack on the capital, thousands sank deep into the night as traffic jams clogged Kyiv’s subway stations.

At times he felt almost cheerful. The families had dinner. Children were playing. Adults chatted. People carried sleeping bags, dogs, or crossword puzzles — anything to ease the wait and the long night ahead.

But the exhaustion was clear to many. And the worries.

“No one believed that this war would start and that they would take Kyiv directly,” said Anton Mironov, waiting for the night in one of the old Soviet metro stations. “I feel mostly tired. None of this feels real. ‘

The invasion began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military facilities, quickly followed by a tripartite ground attack.

Ukrainian and American officials said Russian forces were attacking Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city, from the east; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.

The Ukrainian military announced significant fighting Friday in the Ivankov area, about 40 miles northwest of Kyiv, as Russian forces apparently tried to advance on the capital from the north. It said that a bridge over a small river had been destroyed.

“The most difficult day will be today. The enemy’s plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankov and Chernigov to Kyiv. Russian tanks burn perfectly when hit by our anti-tank missiles, Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko told Telegram.

Zelensky, who earlier severed diplomatic relations with Moscow and declared martial law, addressed world leaders, saying that “if you do not help us now, if you fail to offer powerful assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow the war will knock on the door. you ‘.

Although Biden said he had no plans to talk to Putin, the Russian leader had what the Kremlin described as a “serious and frank conversation” with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Both sides say they have destroyed some of the other side’s planes and military hardware, although little can be confirmed.

Hours after the invasion, Russian forces took control of the now unused Chernobyl plant and the surrounding exclusion zone after a fierce battle, presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak told the Associated Press.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been notified by Ukraine of the takeover, adding that “there are no casualties or damage to the industrial site”.

The 1986 disaster occurred when a nuclear reactor at a plant 80 miles north of Kyiv exploded, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe. The damaged reactor was later covered with a protective sheath to prevent leaks.

Alena Shevtsova, an adviser to the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, wrote on Facebook that employees of the Chernobyl headquarters had been “taken hostage.” The White House said it was “outraged” by reports of detentions.

Ukraine’s defense ministry has released an update stating that although the plant is “probably taken”, the country’s forces have stopped the offensive against Chernigov and that Russia is unlikely to have achieved its planned military targets since day one.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the “brutal act of war” had shattered peace in Europe by joining a chorus of world leaders condemning an attack that could cause mass casualties and overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government.

Smoldering wreckage of a Russian jet is seen in Kyiv on Friday morning

The jet landed in Kyiv, shot down by a Ukrainian missile

People gathering in an air raid shelter in capital city Kyiv, Ukraine, February 24, 2022

A Russian T-72 tank is pictured sitting in front of the main reactor at Chernobyl after Putin’s forces seized it in a ‘fierce’ battle with the condition of nuclear storage facilities ‘unknown’

Russian Mi-8 attack helicopters stage an assault on Gostomel air base, just on the outskirts of Kyiv, after Vladimir Putin launched an all-out attack on the country

A huge explosion has taken place at the Vinnytsia military base in central Ukraine as the country comes under widespread attack from Russia.

Biden warns Putin that the United States will be “involved” if he joins NATO while Ukraine distributes 10,000 assault rifles to citizens: the president still insists he will not send US forces to Kyiv, but has 7,000 in Germany

President Joe Biden on Thursday warned Vladimir Putin that US forces would defend NATO territory if he expanded his attack beyond Ukraine, and said he was sending more troops to Europe.

Shortly after he spoke, the Pentagon said 7,000 additional personnel and hardware were stationed in Germany.

In a White House speech, Biden imposed a new round of sanctions against Russia and promised that Putin’s country would bear the consequences of his aggression against Ukraine.

He said US forces would not clash with Russian troops in Ukraine.

“Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine, but to protect our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east,” he said.

“As I said crystal clear, the United States will defend every inch of NATO territory with the full force of American power.”

In a question-and-answer session with reporters, he was asked if that meant US troops would fight if Russia attacked NATO territory.

“If he moves to NATO countries, we will participate,” he said. – We will participate.

The conflict has shaken global financial markets: stocks have fallen and oil prices have risen amid fears that heating bills and food prices will skyrocket.

The condemnation came not only from the United States and Europe, but also from South Korea, Australia and beyond – and many governments have prepared new sanctions. Even friendly leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orbán have tried to distance themselves from Putin.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he aims to pull Russia out of the UK’s financial markets by imposing sanctions, freezing the assets of all major Russian banks and planning to ban Russian companies and the Kremlin from raising money in British markets.

“Now we see him as he is – a bloody aggressor who believes in imperial conquest,” Johnson told Putin.

US sanctions will target Russian banks, state-controlled oligarchs and high-tech sectors, Biden said, but they are designed not to disrupt global energy markets. Exports of Russian oil and natural gas are a vital energy source for Europe.

Zelensky called on the United States and the West to go further and exclude Russians from the SWIFT system, a key financial network that connects thousands of banks around the world. The White House is reluctant to immediately remove Russia from SWIFT, worried that it could cause huge economic problems in Europe and elsewhere in the West.

While some nervous Europeans have speculated about a possible new world war, the United States and its NATO partners have shown no signs of sending troops to Ukraine, fearing a bigger conflict. NATO has strengthened its membership in Eastern Europe as a precautionary measure, and Biden said the United States has additional forces in Germany to support NATO.

European authorities have declared the country’s airspace an active conflict zone.

After weeks of denying plans to invade, Putin launched an operation against a Texas-sized country that is increasingly leaning toward the Democratic West and away from Moscow’s influence.

The autocratic leader made it clear earlier this week that he saw no reason for Ukraine’s existence, raising fears of a possible wider conflict in the vast space once ruled by the Soviet Union. Putin has denied plans to occupy Ukraine, but his ultimate goals remain unclear.

Ukrainians were urged to take shelter on the spot and not panic.

“Until the last moment, I didn’t believe it would happen. I just banished those thoughts, “said a horrified Anna Dovnya in Kyiv, watching soldiers and police remove shrapnel from an exploded projectile. We have lost all faith.

As social media intensified the flow of military claims and counterclaims, it was difficult to determine exactly what was happening on the ground.

Russia and Ukraine have made competing claims about the damage they have done. The Ministry of Defense said it had destroyed dozens of Ukrainian air bases, military equipment and drones. He confirmed the loss of one of his Su-25 attack planes, blaming the “pilot error” and saying the An-26 transport plane had crashed due to a technical malfunction, killing the entire crew. It does not say how many were on board.

Russia has said it is not targeting cities, but journalists have seen destruction in many civilian areas.

Turkey, meanwhile, said one of its ships was hit by a “bomb” off the coast of Odessa, where fighting is also taking place. Turkey is a member of NATO, stressing fears that the war in Ukraine could quickly take over other countries and provoke a comprehensive conflict in Europe.

Speaking after recent events, Biden announced more sanctions against Russia, but admitted that he did not expect previous threats of financial sanctions to deter Putin.

Blinken says Putin has turned his gaze BEHIND Ukraine as Russian artillery builds up on Poland’s border with Belarus: He claims “convinced” Kremlin wants Kyiv regime change

Vladimir Putin may not stop after conquering Ukraine, warned US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, as satellite images show Russia gathering troops, armor and artillery along Belarus’s border with Poland.

The massacre was seen in the Belarusian city of Brest, just 10 miles east of the Polish border.

“Russia has gathered troops, armor, artillery and more than 50 vehicles for heavy equipment at a test site in Brest, the Polish border. Russia has also added more equipment to a nearby train station in Belarus, “said Jack Detch, a Pentagon and National Security correspondent for Foreign Policy magazine.

Blinken was asked by ABC News on Thursday night if he thought the Russian president would withdraw his troops once Ukraine was conquered.

“Is it possible for Putin to leave Ukraine?” Of course, this is possible, “Blinken told host David Muer.

But he stressed that moving beyond Ukraine to neighboring Poland, Slovakia, Hungary or Romania would mean invading a NATO member state and would automatically attract the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and other nations, forming an alliance of 30 countries.

“There is something very strong that stands in the way of this, and that is something we call Article Five,” Blinken said.

He also opposed calls to send US troops to Ukraine, saying he had no plans to talk to the Russian leader, whom he accused of trying to rebuild the Soviet empire.

The sanctions will target Russian banks, oligarchs, state-controlled companies and high-tech sectors, but Russian oil and natural gas have been released in a bid to avoid disruption to world markets.

“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will suffer the consequences, “Biden said in a White House statement.

Elsewhere, Kyiv ordered civilians to take refuge in bomb shelters and announced a curfew amid fears that Russia would strike the capital as Ukrainian troops lost control of a key airport about 25 miles away. Russian forces attacked him with about two dozen helicopter attackers earlier in the day, four of whom are believed to have been shot down.

The Ukrainian army fought yesterday in almost every region of the country, fighting with the Russians for control of military bases, airports, cities and ports from Kharkov to Kyiv and Donetsk to Odessa.

Putin personally ordered the attack at about 5 a.m. Thursday, firing a volley of missile fire, which U.S. intelligence said included more than 100 short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles, and 75 military bombers. . sites, including barracks, warehouses and airports, to break up the country’s military command structure.

Russia said the strikes destroyed 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities, 11 airports, three command posts and 18 radar stations controlling Kyiv’s anti-aircraft batteries.

This was followed by attacks from Crimea to the south on the city of Kherson, a northern offensive from Belarus to Kyiv and an eastern offensive from Belgorod to Kharkov, where the heaviest fighting is taking place.

U.S. officials said this was only the “initial phase” of the attack and that most of the 190,000 troops at the front remained in reserve. The target of the attack is “capture of key settlements” and “beheading of the Ukrainian government”, officials added.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine said 137 people had been killed and 300 injured on the first day of the conflict.

The port cities of Mariupol and Odessa, home to Ukraine’s main naval bases, have also been attacked – although Odessa appears to remain under Ukrainian control as of Thursday afternoon. Russian tankers blocked the Kerch Strait, leading from the hinterland to the Sea of ​​Azov, cutting off Mariupol.

Ukraine retaliated, shot down five Russian helicopters, destroyed dozens of tanks and captured Russian troops.

A Russian An-26 military transport plane also crashed in the southern Voronezh region, killing its crew on board.

The incident may have been caused by a technical malfunction and did not cause damage to the ground, Interfax reported, citing the press center of the Western Military District.

In an address to his nation, Zelensky also described Russia as “evil” and said that Putin had attacked “like a rogue suicide … just like fascist Germany did during World War II.”

Earlier, he called on all Ukrainian citizens wishing to defend their homeland to move forward, saying the weapons would be distributed to anyone who wanted them.

He also asked civilians to donate blood to help the wounded troops. And he asked world leaders to impose “the toughest possible sanctions” on Putin.

Addressing the nation at noon, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the Western allies were preparing a “massive” package of sanctions against Russia and told the people of Ukraine: “We cannot and will not look away.” Johnson called Putin a “dictator” who would never “conquer the national feeling of Ukrainians.”

As the West prepares to cut Russia off financially, Putin has called on his oligarchs to seek loyalty over his attack on Ukraine – perhaps fearing a revolt from within after prominent Russian television figures and celebrities have spoken out to oppose the conflict. .

Speaking to the Kremlin, he said Russia had been “forced” to take action against Ukraine and had “no choice” but to attack, saying the country remained “part of the global economy” and would not harm the system we belong to ‘. “I want you to show solidarity with the government,” he told them.