Russia continues its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the post-Cold War security order.Here’s the latest on the Ukraine-Russia conflict: Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least three people were injured when a rocket hit a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s capital on Friday, starting a fire.The Ukrainian military is reporting significant fighting northwest of the nation’s capital as Russian forces apparently try to advance on Kyiv from the north. The Ukrainian president remains a “prime target for Russian aggression,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday evening.Ukrainian officials said their forces were battling Russians on multiple fronts, suffering 137 deaths and losing control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.The U.S. State Department has temporarily withdrawn its remaining diplomatic presence from Ukraine. All times referenced below are in Eastern Standard Time:4:30 a.m.Among the signs that the Ukrainian capital was increasingly threatened, the military said Friday that a group of Russian spies and saboteurs was seen in a district of Kyiv about 3 miles north of the city center. Police told people not to exit a subway station in the city center because there was gunfire in the area.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege” in what U.S. officials believe is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to install his own regime. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to global leaders for even more severe sanctions than the ones imposed by Western allies and for defense assistance.“If you don’t help us now, if you fail to offer a powerful assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow the war will knock on your door,” said the leader, who cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, declared martial law and ordered a full military mobilization that would last 90 days.3:30 a.m.Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least three people were injured when a rocket hit a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s capital on Friday, starting a fire.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian military’s claim it is not targeting civilian areas is “a lie.” He said that military and civilian areas in Ukraine are both being hit by Russian attacks.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. Ukrainian and U.S. officials said Russian forces were attacking from the east toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.2:15 a.m.The Ukrainian military is reporting significant fighting northwest of the nation’s capital as Russian forces apparently try to advance on Kyiv from the north.The military said Friday morning a bridge across a river had been destroyed in the area of Ivankiv, about 40 miles northwest of Kyiv.“The hardest day will be today. The enemy’s plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv. Russian tanks burn perfectly when hit by our ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles),” Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.1:30 a.m.As Russian bombs and troops pounded Ukraine during the invasion’s first full day, world leaders on Friday began to fine-tune a response meant to punish the Russian economy and its leaders, including President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.While there’s an acute awareness that a military intervention isn’t possible, for now, the strength, unity and speed of the financial sanctions — with the striking exception of China, a strong Russian supporter — signal a growing global determination to make Moscow reconsider its attack.12:05 a.m.The Ukrainian ambassador to Japan is urging China to join international efforts to stop the Russian “massacre” in his country amid Beijing’s lack of criticism of Moscow’s actions.“We would very much welcome that China exercises its connection with Russia and talks to Putin and explains to him that it is inappropriate in the 21st century to do this massacre in Europe,” Ukrainian diplomat Sergiy Korsunsky told a news conference in Tokyo.China has not criticized Russia over its actions against Ukraine, and has joined in verbal attacks on Washington and its allies.11:15 p.m.The Russian military is pressing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital. The advancement came after Russia unleashed airstrikes on cities and military bases and sent in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the government had information that “subversive groups” were encroaching on the city, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege” in what U.S. officials believe is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime. 10 p.m.Several explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as Russian forces pressed on with a full-scale invasion that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Ukrainians in the first full day of fighting and could eventually rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.Associated Press reporters heard several blasts in different parts of the city.After using airstrikes on cities and military bases, Russian military units moved swiftly to take on Ukraine’s seat of government and its largest city in what U.S. officials suspect is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime.Ukrainian leaders pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee, and hotels in Kyiv were being evacuated amid early indications of an assault.Ukrainian forces braced for more attacks after enduring for hours a Russian barrage of land- and sea-based missiles, an assault that one senior U.S. defense official described as the first salvo in a likely multi-phase invasion aimed at seizing key population centers and “decapitating” Ukraine’s government.9 p.m.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains a “prime target for Russian aggression,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday evening amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Price told CNN that Zelenskyy “does, in many ways, represent – even personify – the democratic aspirations and ambitions of Ukraine – of the Ukrainian people.””So of course, he would remain a prime target for Russian aggression,” he said.The Ukrainian president and his team “are going to make decisions in the coming hours, in the coming days, based on what’s in the best interest of them, what’s in the best interest of Ukrainian people, what’s in the best interest of the Ukrainian state,” Price added.8:30 p.m.The United Nations announced Thursday it is immediately allocating $20 million to scale up U.N. humanitarian operations in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the announcement saying the U.N. and its humanitarian partners “are committed to staying and delivering, to support people in Ukraine in their time of need … regardless of who or where they are.””With deaths rising, we are seeing images of fear, anguish and terror in every corner of Ukraine,” the U.N. chief said. “People – every day innocent people – always pay the highest price.”U.N. Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths said the $20 million from the U.N.’s Central Emergency Response Fund will support emergency operations along the contact line in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk and in other areas of the country, and will “help with health care, shelter, food, and water and sanitation to the most vulnerable people affected by the conflict.”7 p.m.The U.N. Security Council will vote Friday on a resolution that would condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine “in the strongest terms.” It also would demand an immediate halt to Russia’s invasion and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.A senior U.S. official says the Biden administration knows the measure will be vetoed by Russia, but believes it is very important to put the resolution to a vote to underscore Russia’s international isolation.The official says the council vote will be followed by a resolution voted on quickly in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly where there are no vetoes.The final draft resolution, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, would reaffirm the council’s commitment “to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”The council is scheduled to vote at 3 p.m. EST Friday. 6:30 p.m.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 137 civilians and military personnel have been killed so far in the Russian invasion of his country.He calls them “heroes” in a video address released early Friday in which he also says hundreds more have been wounded.Zelenskyy says that despite Russia’s claim it is attacking only military targets, civilian sites also have been struck. In his words: “They’re killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets. It’s foul and will never be forgiven.”The president says all border guards on Zmiinyi island in the Odesa region were killed Thursday. Ukraine’s border guard service earlier in the day reported that the island was taken by the Russians.6:05 p.m.Ukraine’s president is ordering a full military mobilization to challenge the Russian invasion.President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree Thursday evening saying the mobilization would last 90 days.He ordered the military’s General Staff to determine the number of those liable for service and reservists as well as the order of the call-up.Zelenskyy gave his Cabinet the job of allocating funds to pay for the mobilization. 5:30 p.m.White House officials held a press briefing about the invasion. National Security Advisor and National Economic Council Director Daleep Singh walked through the sanctions announced earlier Thursday by the president.”Ultimately, the goal of our sanctions is to make this a strategic failure for Russia,” Singh said.4:19 p.m.The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he spent his day “reaching out all over the world” to organize a united front against Russia.Borrell carried his two phones upon arrival at the urgent meeting of EU leaders held on Thursday evening in Brussels.He said he called more than 20 countries.”The African Union, (countries in) Latin America, in Southeast Asia, India, Japan, …. a lot,” he said.Borrell added that the sanctions he prepared with the EU’s executive arm that were agreed by leaders in retaliation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will start having effect once adopted by the EU Council during a meeting of foreign affairs ministers scheduled Friday.The EU said sanctions will cover “the financial sector, the energy and transport sectors, dual-use goods as well as export control and export financing, visa policy, additional listings of Russian individuals and new listing criteria.”4:08 p.m.The U.S. State Department has at least temporarily withdrawn its remaining diplomatic presence from Ukraine.The department says a core group of essential personnel who had relocated from the capital of Kyiv to the western city of Lviv near the Polish border earlier this month will now work from offices in Poland rather than on Ukrainian territory.Earlier this week, the department had instructed those diplomats to work in Lviv during daylight hours but to spend their nights in Poland.The department says they were ordered late Wednesday not to make the commute back to Lviv to work beginning Thursday until further notice.3:11 p.m.A Russian military plane crashed in Moscow’s Voronezh region that borders with Ukraine, the Russian military said Thursday night.The An-26 plane was carrying out a planned flight transporting military equipment and crashed because of technical failure, military officials said, adding that the plane’s entire crew died in the crash.They didn’t specify how many crew members were on board of the plane.
Russia continues its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the post-Cold War security order.
Here’s the latest on the Ukraine-Russia conflict:
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- Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least three people were injured when a rocket hit a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s capital on Friday, starting a fire.
- The Ukrainian military is reporting significant fighting northwest of the nation’s capital as Russian forces apparently try to advance on Kyiv from the north.
- The Ukrainian president remains a “prime target for Russian aggression,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday evening.
- Ukrainian officials said their forces were battling Russians on multiple fronts, suffering 137 deaths and losing control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
- The U.S. State Department has temporarily withdrawn its remaining diplomatic presence from Ukraine.
All times referenced below are in Eastern Standard Time:
4:30 a.m.
Among the signs that the Ukrainian capital was increasingly threatened, the military said Friday that a group of Russian spies and saboteurs was seen in a district of Kyiv about 3 miles north of the city center. Police told people not to exit a subway station in the city center because there was gunfire in the area.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege” in what U.S. officials believe is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to install his own regime.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to global leaders for even more severe sanctions than the ones imposed by Western allies and for defense assistance.
“If you don’t help us now, if you fail to offer a powerful assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow the war will knock on your door,” said the leader, who cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, declared martial law and ordered a full military mobilization that would last 90 days.
3:30 a.m.
Kyiv mayor Vitaly Klitschko said at least three people were injured when a rocket hit a multi-story apartment building in Ukraine’s capital on Friday, starting a fire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Russian military’s claim it is not targeting civilian areas is “a lie.” He said that military and civilian areas in Ukraine are both being hit by Russian attacks.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. Ukrainian and U.S. officials said Russian forces were attacking from the east toward Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.
2:15 a.m.
The Ukrainian military is reporting significant fighting northwest of the nation’s capital as Russian forces apparently try to advance on Kyiv from the north.
The military said Friday morning a bridge across a river had been destroyed in the area of Ivankiv, about 40 miles northwest of Kyiv.
“The hardest day will be today. The enemy’s plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv. Russian tanks burn perfectly when hit by our ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles),” Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko said on Telegram.
1:30 a.m.
As Russian bombs and troops pounded Ukraine during the invasion’s first full day, world leaders on Friday began to fine-tune a response meant to punish the Russian economy and its leaders, including President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
While there’s an acute awareness that a military intervention isn’t possible, for now, the strength, unity and speed of the financial sanctions — with the striking exception of China, a strong Russian supporter — signal a growing global determination to make Moscow reconsider its attack.
12:05 a.m.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Japan is urging China to join international efforts to stop the Russian “massacre” in his country amid Beijing’s lack of criticism of Moscow’s actions.
“We would very much welcome that China exercises its connection with Russia and talks to Putin and explains to him that it is inappropriate in the 21st century to do this massacre in Europe,” Ukrainian diplomat Sergiy Korsunsky told a news conference in Tokyo.
China has not criticized Russia over its actions against Ukraine, and has joined in verbal attacks on Washington and its allies.
11:15 p.m.
The Russian military is pressing its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital. The advancement came after Russia unleashed airstrikes on cities and military bases and sent in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the government had information that “subversive groups” were encroaching on the city, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege” in what U.S. officials believe is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime.
10 p.m.
Several explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as Russian forces pressed on with a full-scale invasion that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Ukrainians in the first full day of fighting and could eventually rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.
Associated Press reporters heard several blasts in different parts of the city.
After using airstrikes on cities and military bases, Russian military units moved swiftly to take on Ukraine’s seat of government and its largest city in what U.S. officials suspect is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime.
Ukrainian leaders pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee, and hotels in Kyiv were being evacuated amid early indications of an assault.
Ukrainian forces braced for more attacks after enduring for hours a Russian barrage of land- and sea-based missiles, an assault that one senior U.S. defense official described as the first salvo in a likely multi-phase invasion aimed at seizing key population centers and “decapitating” Ukraine’s government.
9 p.m.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy remains a “prime target for Russian aggression,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Thursday evening amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Price told CNN that Zelenskyy “does, in many ways, represent – even personify – the democratic aspirations and ambitions of Ukraine – of the Ukrainian people.”
“So of course, he would remain a prime target for Russian aggression,” he said.
The Ukrainian president and his team “are going to make decisions in the coming hours, in the coming days, based on what’s in the best interest of them, what’s in the best interest of Ukrainian people, what’s in the best interest of the Ukrainian state,” Price added.
8:30 p.m.
The United Nations announced Thursday it is immediately allocating $20 million to scale up U.N. humanitarian operations in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made the announcement saying the U.N. and its humanitarian partners “are committed to staying and delivering, to support people in Ukraine in their time of need … regardless of who or where they are.”
“With deaths rising, we are seeing images of fear, anguish and terror in every corner of Ukraine,” the U.N. chief said. “People – every day innocent people – always pay the highest price.”
U.N. Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths said the $20 million from the U.N.’s Central Emergency Response Fund will support emergency operations along the contact line in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk and in other areas of the country, and will “help with health care, shelter, food, and water and sanitation to the most vulnerable people affected by the conflict.”
7 p.m.
The U.N. Security Council will vote Friday on a resolution that would condemn Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine “in the strongest terms.” It also would demand an immediate halt to Russia’s invasion and the withdrawal of all Russian troops.
A senior U.S. official says the Biden administration knows the measure will be vetoed by Russia, but believes it is very important to put the resolution to a vote to underscore Russia’s international isolation.
The official says the council vote will be followed by a resolution voted on quickly in the 193-member U.N. General Assembly where there are no vetoes.
The final draft resolution, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, would reaffirm the council’s commitment “to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders.”
The council is scheduled to vote at 3 p.m. EST Friday.
6:30 p.m.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 137 civilians and military personnel have been killed so far in the Russian invasion of his country.
He calls them “heroes” in a video address released early Friday in which he also says hundreds more have been wounded.
Zelenskyy says that despite Russia’s claim it is attacking only military targets, civilian sites also have been struck. In his words: “They’re killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets. It’s foul and will never be forgiven.”
The president says all border guards on Zmiinyi island in the Odesa region were killed Thursday. Ukraine’s border guard service earlier in the day reported that the island was taken by the Russians.
6:05 p.m.
Ukraine’s president is ordering a full military mobilization to challenge the Russian invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a decree Thursday evening saying the mobilization would last 90 days.
He ordered the military’s General Staff to determine the number of those liable for service and reservists as well as the order of the call-up.
Zelenskyy gave his Cabinet the job of allocating funds to pay for the mobilization.
5:30 p.m.
White House officials held a press briefing about the invasion.
National Security Advisor and National Economic Council Director Daleep Singh walked through the sanctions announced earlier Thursday by the president.
“Ultimately, the goal of our sanctions is to make this a strategic failure for Russia,” Singh said.
4:19 p.m.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he spent his day “reaching out all over the world” to organize a united front against Russia.
Borrell carried his two phones upon arrival at the urgent meeting of EU leaders held on Thursday evening in Brussels.
He said he called more than 20 countries.
“The African Union, (countries in) Latin America, in Southeast Asia, India, Japan, …. a lot,” he said.
Borrell added that the sanctions he prepared with the EU’s executive arm that were agreed by leaders in retaliation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will start having effect once adopted by the EU Council during a meeting of foreign affairs ministers scheduled Friday.
The EU said sanctions will cover “the financial sector, the energy and transport sectors, dual-use goods as well as export control and export financing, visa policy, additional listings of Russian individuals and new listing criteria.”
4:08 p.m.
The U.S. State Department has at least temporarily withdrawn its remaining diplomatic presence from Ukraine.
The department says a core group of essential personnel who had relocated from the capital of Kyiv to the western city of Lviv near the Polish border earlier this month will now work from offices in Poland rather than on Ukrainian territory.
Earlier this week, the department had instructed those diplomats to work in Lviv during daylight hours but to spend their nights in Poland.
The department says they were ordered late Wednesday not to make the commute back to Lviv to work beginning Thursday until further notice.
3:11 p.m.
A Russian military plane crashed in Moscow’s Voronezh region that borders with Ukraine, the Russian military said Thursday night.
The An-26 plane was carrying out a planned flight transporting military equipment and crashed because of technical failure, military officials said, adding that the plane’s entire crew died in the crash.
They didn’t specify how many crew members were on board of the plane.
