Volodymyr Zelensky warns of an assassination attempt
Russian forces apparently attack Kiev - President claims Moscow wants to destroy his government
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that "enemy saboteur groups" have entered Kiev and that Russia is planning an assassination attempt on him, after Vladimir Putin's invading forces stepped up their attack on the Ukrainian capital and other cities on Friday.
A day after Moscow's forces invaded Ukraine from Russia, Belarus and the Russian-held Crimea peninsula, launching one of Europe's largest military offensives since World War II, residents of central Kiev were stunned by loud explosions just after 4am awakened.
The General Staff of Ukraine's military said its anti-aircraft systems had intercepted two Russian missiles fired at the capital.
"According to our information, the enemy has identified me as their number one target," Zelensky said in an early morning video address, in which he wore a green military-style shirt and sweater. "My family is the second most important target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state."
The Ukrainian President added that he was staying in the government quarter "along with everyone needed for the work of the central government".
Shortly after 7 a.m., air raid sirens sounded in the center of Kiev. The city government warned people to seek shelter and said subway stations were open at all times of the day for people seeking shelter.
According to Ukraine's Defense Ministry, since the invasion began at 3 a.m. Friday, the Ukrainian military had shot down seven Russian planes, six helicopters and more than 30 tanks, killing around 800 "enemy" soldiers.
Zelensky said that 137 of his compatriots died. He referred to them as "Ukrainian heroes".
Russia did not provide any information on the damage to its military installations or the casualties it suffered or inflicted.
Senior Western officials warned that Russia is assembling an "overwhelming force" to take the capital potentially within days, with tanks and armored vehicles rolling into Ukraine from three fronts and fighter jets, airborne troops and helicopters at a key airport near Kiev attacked. A senior US defense official said the campaign's ultimate goal was to "behead the government" in Kiev.
Shocked world leaders have condemned what they described as the most momentous challenge to post-war Europe in 80 years. "[Putin] has much bigger ambitions than Ukraine," US President Joe Biden said Thursday. "He does indeed want to restore the former Soviet Union. That's what this is about."
Biden said the US and its allies would respond to Russian aggression with sanctions. "Putin chose this war and now he and his country will face the consequences.
Zelensky called on "everyone with combat experience" to take up arms and oppose the forces that had invaded "just like fascist Germany". He also ordered a full mobilization of the military.
Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the invasion in a phone call on Thursday. According to the Kremlin, this was the Russian president's first talks with a Western leader since he recognized the separatist states in eastern Ukraine and launched a full-scale attack on the country.
The two politicians had a "serious and frank exchange of views on the situation in Ukraine," the Kremlin said in a statement. A French official said Macron called Putin just ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, demanding "an immediate halt to Russian military operations."
Zelensky thanked Western leaders for their support but questioned their willingness to go further. "Who is ready to fight with us? Honestly, I don't see anyone... I ask them: are you on our side?"
Russian advances indicated that part of the Russian forces were advancing towards Kiev while others were encircling the Ukrainian army to the east.
On Thursday, Brent crude oil prices surged above $105 a barrel, taking the international oil benchmark above $100 for the first time since 2014. The price fell back after the Biden administration announced a series of sanctions focused on Russia's financial sector rather than the energy industry.
However, oil prices climbed back above the $100 mark in Asia on Friday morning, with Brent crude up 2.9 per cent at $101.90 a barrel.
Nato will hold an emergency summit of its 30-member heads of state and government on Friday to discuss the invasion.
Ukraine's ambassador to Japan, Sergiy Korsunsky, described an early encounter at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday at an outpost in the Black Sea known as Snake Island (zmiinyi in Russian), which he described as a "symbol of resistance".
The envoy played a recording of a radio conversation between Russian naval vessels and lightly armed Ukrainian border guards stationed on the island. Korsunsky said the Russian ships twice told the Ukrainians to lay down their weapons and surrender or be destroyed.
The response was "go fuck yourself"," Korsunsky said, adding that the Russians then destroyed the structures on the island and killed the 13 guards stationed there.