Missiles rained on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv on Friday with Russian forces advancing into the country amidst worldwide condemnation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded with the international community for help, quoting sanctions announced so far were not enough.
An estimated 100,000 people fled as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities. Dozens have been reported killed. Russian troops seized the Chernobyl former nuclear power plant north of Kyiv as they advanced on the city from Belarus.
Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea, in what is described by many as the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
Putin has justified the invasion saying Russia is carrying out "a special military operation" to stop the Ukrainian government from committing genocide against its own people. He also says Ukraine is an illegitimate state whose lands historically belong to Russia.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that Russia aims to capture Kyiv and topple the government, which Putin remarks as a puppet of the United States.
Zelenskiy, Russia's "number one target"
Zelenskiy said he understood Russian troops were coming for him but swore to stay put in Kyiv.
In a video message Zelenskiy said that he has been marked as the number one target and his family, the number two target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.
Zelenskyy also said that 137 “heroes,” including 10 military officers, had been killed and 316 people wounded. The deceased included border guards on the Zmiinyi Island in the Odesa region, which was taken over by Russians.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter, "Horrific Russian rocket strikes on Kyiv, Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany."
Strategic importance of Chernobyl
Chernobyl power plant as reported is under the control of Russian forces. The still radioactive site of the world's worst nuclear accident of 1986 and a major cause for the fall of the then Soviet Union, gives Russia the advantage of taking the shortest route from Belarus to Kyiv.
According to Western military analysts Russia is simply using the fastest invasion route from Belarus, an ally of Moscow and a staging ground for Russian troops, to Kyiv.
Ukraine's four operational nuclear power plants are running safely and there has been no "destruction" at the remaining waste and other facilities at Chernobyl, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, citing Ukraine's nuclear regulator.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense issued an update saying that though the plant was “likely captured,” the country’s forces had halted Russia’s advance toward Chernihiv and that it was unlikely that Russia had achieved its planned Day One military objectives.
Sanctions by US and Allies
The U.S. sanctions will target Russian banks, oligarchs, state-controlled companies and high-tech sectors, Biden said, but they were designed not to disrupt global energy markets. Russian oil and natural gas exports are vital energy sources for Europe.
Zelenskyy urged the U.S. and West to go further and cut the Russians from the SWIFT system, a key financial network that connects thousands of banks around the world. The White House has been reluctant to immediately cut Russia from SWIFT, worried it could cause enormous economic problems in Europe and elsewhere in the West.
Britain would also like to cut off Russia from the SWIFT global interbank payments system, the defence secretary said.
Britain, Canada, the EU, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and others unveiled sanctions against Russia, targeting banks, military exports and members of Putin's inner circle.
Russia has spent the past seven years building up formidable financial defences, yet in the long run, its economy is unlikely to withstand the onslaught of coordinated sanctions from the West.
Russia has dismissed sanctions as counter to the interests of those who imposed them. And they won't immediately dent an economy with $643 billion in currency reserves and booming oil and gas revenues.
While some speculated about a possible new world war, the U.S. and its NATO partners have shown no indication they would send troops into Ukraine, fearing a larger conflict. NATO reinforced its members in Eastern Europe as a precaution, and Biden said the U.S. was deploying additional forces to Germany to bolster NATO.
U.N. Security Council to meet on Friday
The United Nations Security Council will vote on Friday, at 2000 GMT, on a draft resolution condemning the Russian invasion on Ukraine. The resolution would require Moscow to immediately and unconditionally withdraw, but the measure is set to fail because Moscow can cast a veto.
Although action will be blocked in the 15-member Security Council, Washington and allies see the vote as a chance to show that Moscow is isolated over its actions. Diplomats said it appeared at least 11 members would vote in favour, while it was unclear how China, India and others would vote.
Stock markets took a plunge and Russia's rouble hit an all-time low. However, U.S. stocks took a positive hike as the West detailed its sanctions against Russia.
-Reuters/AP/BBC