New Delhi: Russian forces continued their offensive on Ukraine Friday with ‘horrific rocket strikes’ hitting the capital city of Kyiv, even as the United States and its allies imposed another round of stiff sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, the US has warned that Russian forces were just 20 miles outside the capital and cautioned that the city could fall quickly, the Washington Post reported.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed air strikes on Kyiv, saying “the last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany”.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed air strikes on Kyiv, saying “the last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany”. He tweeted: “Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Sever all ties. Kick Russia out of everywhere.”
In a post on its verified Facebook page, the Ukraine’s army said that Russia fired on civilian areas of Kyiv but that Ukraine’s air defence systems had repelled “two deadly gifts”.
Horrific Russian rocket strikes on Kyiv. Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany. Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out of everywhete.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 25, 2022
Ukraine fights back
Even as fighting raged in the north of Kyiv, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said his nation continued to resist on the second day of the Russian invasion.
Loud explosions were heard in Kyiv city centre a little after 4 am. The Ukraine government said the city was being hit by either cruise or ballistic missiles.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said that air defence systems intercepted an unspecified Russian aircraft over Kyiv.
Moments later, CNN reported that it was in fact a Ukrainian SU-27 that was shot down by a Russian anti-air battery in the suburbs of Kyiv.
Zelensky has said that 137 people, including 10 military officers, have been killed and 316 people injured on day one.
“Russia will have to talk to us sooner or later, talk about how to end the fighting and stop this invasion,” Zelensky said in a morning address. “The sooner this conversation begins, the smaller the losses of Russia itself.”
Zelensky pleaded with the international community to do more, saying sanctions announced so far were not enough.
Fresh sanctions
US President Joe Biden came down heavily on Russia by imposing another round of sanctions, promising to inflict a “severe cost on the Russian economy” that will hamper its ability to do business in foreign currencies.
“This is a dangerous moment for all of Europe,” Biden said in an address to the nation from the White House, adding that the “next few weeks and months will be hard on the people of Ukraine.”
Biden also said Washington will intervene if Putin strikes NATO countries. Reports said that countries on NATO’s eastern region, especially the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have received the first batches of US military troops and equipment.
(with inputs from Bloomberg)
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