Russian troops bore down on UkraineB次元官网网址檚 capital Friday while the president grimly predicted that the conflict would soon intensify, and fears of wider war in Europe triggered new international efforts to make Moscow stop, including direct sanctions on President Vladimir Putin.
Amid reports of hundreds of casualties B次元官网网址� including shelling that sliced through a Kyiv apartment building and pummeled bridges and schools B次元官网网址� there also were growing signs that Russia may be seeking to overthrow UkraineB次元官网网址檚 government, which U.S. officials have described as PutinB次元官网网址檚 ultimate objective. It would be his boldest effort yet to redraw the world map and revive MoscowB次元官网网址檚 Cold War-era influence.
His country fending off explosions and gunfire, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for a cease-fire and warned in a bleak statement that multiple cities were under attack. B次元官网网址淭his night they will storm,B次元官网网址� he said. For their part, U.S. defense officials believe the Russian offensive has encountered considerable resistance and is proceeding slower than Moscow had envisioned, though that could change quickly.
The Kremlin accepted KyivB次元官网网址檚 offer to hold talks, but it appeared to be an effort to squeeze concessions out of the embattled Zelenskyy instead of a gesture toward a diplomatic solution.
The Russian military continued its advance, laying claim Friday to the southern Ukraine city of Melitopol. Still, it was unclear in the fog of war how much of Ukraine is still under Ukrainian control and how much or little Russian forces have seized.
As fighting persisted, UkraineB次元官网网址檚 military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, an account confirmed by a senior American intelligence official. It was unclear how many were on board. Transport planes can carry up to 125 paratroopers.
The U.S. and other global powers slapped ever-tougher sanctions on Russia as the invasion reverberated through the worldB次元官网网址檚 economy and energy supplies, threatening to further hit ordinary households. U.N. officials said millions could flee Ukraine. Sports leagues moved to punish Russia and even the popular Eurovision song contest banned it from the May finals in Italy.
Through it all, Russia remained unbowed, vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that it stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw troops immediately. The veto was expected, but the U.S. and its supporters argued that the effort would highlight MoscowB次元官网网址檚 international isolation. The 11-1 vote, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, showed significant but not total opposition to RussiaB次元官网网址檚 invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbor.
The meeting exposed Russia-Ukraine frictions, including when Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya requested a moment of silence to pray for those killed and asked Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia to pray B次元官网网址渇or salvation.B次元官网网址� Nebenzia retorted that the remembrance should include people who have died in eastern UkraineB次元官网网址檚 Donbas region. Pro-Russian separatists there have been fighting the Ukrainian government, which Russia accuses of abuses. A moment of tense silence did ensue.
NATO, meanwhile, decided to send parts of the allianceB次元官网网址檚 response force to help protect its member nations in the east for the first time. NATO did not say how many troops would be deployed but added that it would involve land, sea and air power.
Day Two of RussiaB次元官网网址檚 invasion, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, focused on the Ukrainian capital, where Associated Press reporters heard explosions starting before dawn. Gunfire was reported in several areas.
A large boom was heard in the evening near Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square in central Kyiv that was the heart of protests which led to the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president. The cause was not immediately known.
Five explosions struck near a major power plant on KyivB次元官网网址檚 eastern outskirts, said Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. There was no information on what caused them, and no electrical outages were immediately reported.
It was unclear how many people overall had died. Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side from the first full day of fighting and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures.
U.N. officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes. They estimate that up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates.
Zelenskyy tweeted that he and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone and discussed B次元官网网址渟trengthening sanctions, concrete defense assistance and an antiwar coalition.B次元官网网址�
His whereabouts were kept secret after Zelenskyy told European leaders in a call Thursday that he was RussiaB次元官网网址檚 No. 1 target B次元官网网址� and that they might not see him again alive. His office later released a video of him standing with senior aides outside the presidential office and saying that he and other government officials would stay in the capital.
Zelenskyy earlier offered to negotiate on a key Putin demand: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and abandon its ambition of joining NATO. The Kremlin said Kyiv initially agreed to have talks in Minsk, then said it would prefer Warsaw and later halted communications. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said later that Kyiv would discuss prospects for talks on Saturday.
The assault was anticipated for weeks by the U.S. and Western allies and denied to be in the works just as long by Putin. He argued the West left him with no other choice by refusing to negotiate RussiaB次元官网网址檚 security demands.
In a window into how the increasingly isolated Putin views Ukraine and its leadership, he urged UkraineB次元官网网址檚 military to surrender, saying: B次元官网网址淲e would find it easier to agree with you than with that gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have holed up in Kyiv and have taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage.B次元官网网址�
Playing on Russian nostalgia for World War II heroism, the Kremlin equates members of Ukrainian right-wing groups with neo-Nazis. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, angrily dismisses those claims.
Putin has not disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a hint, saying, B次元官网网址淲e want to allow the Ukrainian people to determine its own fate.B次元官网网址� Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia recognizes Zelenskyy as the president, but would not say how long the Russian military operation could last.
Ukrainians abruptly adjusted to life under fire, after Russian forces invaded the country from three sides as they massed an estimated 150,000 troops nearby.
Residents of a Kyiv apartment building woke to screaming, smoke and flying dust. What the mayor identified as Russian shelling tore off part of the building and ignited a fire.
B次元官网网址淲hat are you doing? What is this?B次元官网网址� resident Yurii Zhyhanov asked Russian forces. Like countless other Ukrainians, he grabbed what belongings he could, took his mother, and fled, car alarms wailing behind him.
Elsewhere in Kyiv, the body of a dead soldier lay near an underpass. Fragments of a downed aircraft smoked amid the brick homes of a residential area. Black plastic was draped over body parts found beside them. People climbed out of bomb shelters, basements and subways to face another day of upheaval.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e all scared and worried. We donB次元官网网址檛 know what to do then, whatB次元官网网址檚 going to happen in a few days,B次元官网网址� said Lucy Vashaka, 20, a worker at a small Kyiv hotel.
At the Pentagon, press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. believes the offensive, including its advance on Kiev, has gone more slowly than Moscow had planned, noting that Ukraine forces have been fighting back. But he also said the military campaign is in an early stage and circumstances can change rapidly.
The Biden administration said Friday that it would move to freeze the assets of Putin and Lavrov, following the European Union and Britain in directly sanctioning top Russian leadership.
Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called the sanctions against Putin and Lavrov B次元官网网址渁n example and a demonstration of a total helplessnessB次元官网网址� of the West.
B次元官网网址斺赌斺赌�
By Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov And Dasha Litvinova
Isachenkov and Litvinova reported from Moscow. Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv Angela Charlton in Paris Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels Nic Dumitrache in Mariupol, Ukraine Matt Sedensky in New York Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations James LaPorta in Boca Raton, Fla., and Robert Burns, Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, Eric Tucker, Nomaan Merchant, Ellen Knickmeyer, Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed.
