Russian troops stopped from advancing in most directions, says Ukrainian President 

Russia started missile strikes around 4 a.m. on Friday, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, although its soldiers were halted from advancing in most directions. 

Zelensky said the Russian strikes were intended at both military and civilian targets in a televised statement. After unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and pouring in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that might rewrite the global post-Cold War security system, Russia pushed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of Kyiv on Friday. 

Explosions erupted in Kyiv before daybreak, prompting Western leaders to convene an emergency summit and Ukraine’s president to appeal for international assistance. The cause of the explosions was not immediately known, but they came as indicators that Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital and largest city, was becoming increasingly threatened after a day of combat. 

On the second day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the capital city of Kyiv was hit by numerous rockets. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, blasted the strikes, saying the last time Kyiv witnessed something like that was in 1941 when the capital city was besieged by Nazis. 

The Ukrainian government has appealed for international assistance, which is fighting Russian forces. 

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted, “Russia has launched on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself and will not give up its freedom.” 

Since President Vladimir Putin announced military action in Ukraine, Russian forces have unleashed a barrage of attacks. Putin has recognized Donetsk and Luhansk, Ukraine’s two breakaway regions, as separate entities.  

On Friday, Ukraine’s defense ministry announced that its armed forces had killed over 800 Russian soldiers and destroyed more than 30 tanks, seven planes, and six helicopters. 

Since the incident on Thursday, more than 360 people have been injured, and 137 have died in Ukraine. 

The United Nations has called for the protection of people in Ukraine to be prioritized. 

Despite international condemnation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the invasion by claiming it was necessary to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine. Putin also warned that any involvement would have “unprecedented consequences.” 

Latest on Ukraine crisis: 

1. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine promised to stay in Kyiv as his army fought Russian invaders advancing near the capital in the largest attack on a European state since World War II. 
2. According to a Ukrainian presidential adviser, Russian forces have taken control of the former Chornobyl nuclear power facility on the route between Belarus and Kyiv. 
3. According to Anton Herashchenko, an assistant to the interior minister, Ukrainian forces shot down an aircraft over Kyiv, which then fell into a residential structure. A missile struck a Ukrainian border post in the southeast, killing and injuring a number of border guards. 
4. Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, stated that his goal was to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine. Any impediment will be addressed with “such consequences that you have never experienced in your history,” he claimed. 
5. Putin’s conduct, according to US President Joe Biden, was based on “blatant aggression.” He announced further sanctions against the country’s banks and affluent elite and export restrictions. 
6. On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke with Putin in a “frank, straight, and rapid” phone call to ask him to halt military operations after Zelenskiy requested it. 
7. Sanctions against Russia were announced by the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and others, targeting banks, military exports, and Putin’s closest circle members. 

Protests in Russia 

Thousands of Russians took to the streets in Moscow and other cities to oppose the invasion. They wrote open letters and online petitions requesting that the assault on the Kremlin be stopped. By the end of the day, one petition had gathered 330,000 signatures. The retaliation was fast. A total of 1,745 persons were detained in 54 Russian cities, with at least 957 of them in Moscow.

READ MORE: Explosions rock Ukrainian port hours after grain deal