As Russian forces approach the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, NATO leaders are set to meet to set out a strategic response to Moscow's invasion. Missiles have struck at the heart of the capital, as neighbouring countries brace for an influx of refugees fleeing the fighting.
Missiles pounded Ukraine's capital on Friday as Russian forces continue their advance on Kyiv, with Ukrainian authorities saying they are preparing for an assault aimed at overthrowing the government.
Air raid sirens have reportedly been sounding across the city of three million people, as residents' shelter in underground metro stations, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out invasion of the country.
Ukrainian officials have reported that a Russian aircraft was shot down and crashed into a building in Kyiv overnight, setting it ablaze and injuring eight people.
Sources say Russian forces are expected to enter areas just outside the capital later this Friday and that Ukrainian troops are defending positions on four fronts despite being outnumbered.
Kyiv city council has warned residents of the Obolon district, near an air base seized by Russian paratroopers on Thursday, to stay indoors because of "the approach of active hostilities".
Witnesses say loud explosions could be heard in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, close to Russia's border.
Authorities have also reported heavy fighting in the eastern city of Sumy.
‘I have asked 27 European leaders whether Ukraine will be in NATO .... Everyone is afraid, no one answers,’ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a late night speech https://t.co/Tco566qKpI pic.twitter.com/LZFRh6WM7f
— Reuters (@Reuters) February 25, 2022
Zelenskiy is 'number one target'
Tens of thousands of people have fled the major cities, with dozens reported killed. Russian troops have also seized the Chernobyl former nuclear power plant north of Kyiv as they advance on the city from Belarus.
US officials believe Russia's initial aim is to topple President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and "decapitate" his government.
Zelenskiy said the troops were coming for him, but he would stay in Kyiv.
Speaking in a video message, the Ukrainian president said: "The enemy has marked me down as the number one target. My family is the number two target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state."
Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday following a declaration of war by Putin, in what is the biggest attack on a European state since World War II.
Putin claims Ukraine is an illegitimate state carved out of Russia, a view Ukrainians see as aimed at erasing their more than thousand-year history.
- Macron responds 'without weakness' to Russia's 'act of war'
- Russia launches 'military operations' in Ukraine, amid widespread condemnation from West
Ukrainians remain defiant
Meanwhile, Britain maintains Moscow's aim is to conquer all of Ukraine adding that its military had failed to meet its main objectives on the first day because it failed to anticipate that Ukrainians would resist.
UK defence minister Ben Wallace has said that "contrary to great Russian claims - and indeed President Putin's sort of vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause - he's got that completely wrong, and the Russian army has failed to deliver, on day one, its main objective."
Ukrainians have been circulating an unverified recording of a Russian warship ordering a Ukrainian Black Sea outpost to surrender.
The Ukrainians reply: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."
Zelenskiy said the 13 guards were killed by a Russian strike and would receive posthumous honours.
Unverified recording of Russian warship ordering surrender of Ukrainian outpost
I can't believe that this is real life pic.twitter.com/DGtDR9IASy
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy Stan 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 (@OneNationCon) February 24, 2022
Exodus to the west
Ukrainians have been fleeing into neighbouring Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia - mostly women and children - after Kyiv restricted passage for men between 18 and 60 years old.
Poland's deputy interior minister Paweł Szefernaker said Ukrainian bus drivers were unable to drive across the border as conscription-age men were being held back in Ukraine.
Ukraine voted for independence at the fall of the Soviet Union and has recently stepped up efforts to join NATO and the European Union, aspirations that infuriate Moscow.
NATO leaders, meanwhile, are meeting today to discuss the military alliance's next step, although Ukraine is not a member country.
Since the invasion, Western countries have announced sanctions on Moscow touted as "far stronger than earlier measures", including blacklisting its banks and banning technology imports.
They stopped short of forcing Russia out of the SWIFT system for international bank payments, drawing criticism from Kyiv which says the most serious steps should be taken now.
The Kremlin has said the sanctions will have an impact on the country, but can be overcome.
World markets brace for impact
Russia is one of the world's biggest energy producers, and both it and Ukraine are among the top exporters of grain. War and sanctions are set to disrupt economies around the world.
Oil and grain prices have soared, however share markets around the world, many of which plunged on Thursday at news of the outbreak of war, appear to have bounced back.
Later this Friday, the United Nations Security Council is due to vote on a draft resolution condemning the invasion, though Moscow is certain to veto it.
China, which recently signed a friendship treaty with Russia, has refused to call Moscow's actions an invasion.
