Kyiv: Russian missiles pounded Kyiv on Friday, families cowered in shelters and authorities told residents to prepare Molotov cocktails to defend Ukraine's capital from an assault that the mayor said had already begun with saboteurs in the city. Air raid sirens wailed over the capital of three million people, where some residents sheltered in underground metro stations, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion that has shocked the world, reported Reuters. But Putin, say reports, is willing for talks, under certain conditions.
Here are the top 10 developments from Ukraine-Russia conflict:
- European Union agrees to freeze European assets linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Lavrov over Ukraine invasion, reports AFP.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to send a delegation of high-ranking officials to Minsk to hold talks with Kiev-Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the Russian Embassy in India said.
- Ukraine's Defence Ministry says more than 1,000 Russian soldiers were killed so far in Ukraine conflict, say Reuters.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy tweeted that there had been heavy fighting with people killed at the entrance to the eastern cities of Chernihiv and Melitopol, as well as at Hostomel.
- US officials believe Russia's initial aim is to topple Zelenskiy and "decapitate" his government. Zelenskiy said he knew he was "the number one target" but he would stay in Kyiv. An adviser to Zelenskiy said Ukraine was prepared for talks with Russia, including on staying neutral, one of Moscow`s pre-war demands. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called that offer a lie and said no talks could be held until the Ukrainian military lays down its arms.
- After Moscow denied for months it was planning an invasion, news that Putin had ordered one has shocked Russians accustomed to viewing their ruler of 22 years as a cautious strategist. Many Russians have friends and family in Ukraine. Russian state media have relentlessly characterised Ukraine as a threat, but thousands of Russians protested on Thursday against the war. Hundreds were swiftly arrested. One pop star posted a video on Instagram opposing the war, and the head of a Moscow state-run theatre quit, saying she would not take her salary from a murderer.
- The first batch of Indian students have left Chernivtsi for the Ukraine-Romania border. MEA Camp Offices are now operational in Lviv and Chernivtsi towns in western Ukraine. Additional Russian-speaking officials are being sent to these Camp Offices.
- Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar said that he has received a call from Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister. ""He shared his assessment of the current situation. I emphasized that India supports diplomacy and dialogue as the way out. We discussed the predicament of Indian nationals, including students. Appreciate his support for their safe return," Jaishankar said.
- Pope Francis went to the Russian embassy in Rome on Friday to personally express his concern about the war in Ukraine, in an extraordinary papal gesture that has no recent precedent. Popes usually receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican. For Francis to travel a short distance to the Russian embassy outside the Vatican walls was a sign of his strength of feeling about Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Vatican officials said they knew of no such previous papal initiative.
- The UN Human rights office says it is receiving increasing reports of civilian casualties in Ukraine in the wake of Russia's military invasion. Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani of the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says its staffers have so far verified at least 127 civilian casualties. They include 25 people killed and 102 injured, mostly from shelling and airstrikes. She cautioned Friday that the numbers are "very likely to be an underestimate."
