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3 mins ago
At least 3 more explosions heard in Kyiv at dawn
By Tim Lister
At least three more explosions resounded in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday morning.
They seemed to come from the southwest of the city.
It's just after 6:30 am in Kyiv.
This morning, CNN crews on the ground reported hearing large explosions in the city.
3 mins ago
Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Kyiv has not experienced something like this since the 1941 Nazi attack
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
(Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
In a tweet posted on Friday morning, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denounced "horrible Russian rocket attacks in Kyiv."
"The last time our capital experienced something like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany," he wrote.
"Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. (Cut) all ties. Kick Russia out of (everywhere)."
CNN crews in Kyiv reported hearing explosions early Friday.
Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin blamed an explosion on Friday on a "Ukrainian anti-missile system that fired a (Russian) missile from the sky."
CNN has not been able to independently verify this.
3 mins ago
Missile impacts and alarms: this was the exact moment when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began
Shocks and alarms: the moments of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 1:23
4 mins ago
The European Union announces new "maximum impact" sanctions on Russia
By Hira Humayun
The European Union announced new sanctions against Russia early Friday targeting the country's financial, energy and transportation sectors, and visa policy.
They will also include export controls and export financing prohibitions.
The sanctions will have "the maximum impact on the Russian economy and the political elite," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We will hold the Kremlin to account,” she said.
She said the financial sanctions have shrunk Russia's most important capital markets and are now targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and key state-owned companies.
The sanctions will increase Russia's borrowing costs, push up inflation and "gradually erode Russia's industrial base," she said.
“We are also targeting Russian elites by restricting their deposits so they can no longer hide their money in safe havens in Europe,” he added.
An export ban will also affect Russia's oil sector and prohibit the sale of all aircraft parts and equipment to Russian airlines, which, according to Von der Leyen, would affect a key sector of Russia's economy and the connectivity of the country.
The sanctions also limit Russia's access to "critical technology," he said.
Diplomats, like-minded groups and businessmen will no longer have privileged access to the EU, he added.
4 mins ago
Deputy Interior Minister of Ukraine: Explosion over Kyiv caused by Ukrainian air defenses
By Matthew Chance
Firefighters outside a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday.
(Provided by Anton Gerashchenko)
Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin blamed an early Friday morning explosion over the capital Kyiv on a "Ukrainian anti-missile system that fired a (Russian) missile from the sky."
CNN has not been able to independently verify this.
Earlier Friday morning, CNN reporters in Kyiv reported hearing several loud explosions.
Separately, Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said on Friday that Kyiv had been hit by "cruise or ballistic missiles."
Photos shared by Gerashchenko on Friday show a Kyiv residential building on fire and firefighters responding on the scene as clouds of black smoke rise in the distance.
5 mins ago
The French president says he is ready to negotiate a ceasefire and accuses Putin of "duplicity"
By Xiaofei Xu
French President Emmanuel Macron.
(Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
French President Emmanuel Macron positions himself as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine for a possible ceasefire agreement.
“I think it is my responsibility, first of all, to take such initiatives when they are requested by Ukraine, and then, while we condemn, while we sanction, while we continue to decide and act, to leave this path open so that the day the conditions are met , we can get a cessation of hostilities for the Ukrainian people," Macron said at a joint news conference in Brussels on Friday after an emergency European Union summit.
Macron was the first major Western leader to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Russian military action began.
They spoke before the summit, but Macron admitted that the phone call did not achieve much, "since the Russian president chose war".
Macron also accused Putin of duplicity, saying that he and other European leaders had been discussing "the details of the implementation of the Minsk agreements" with Putin just hours before the Russian president launched the operation, referring to the 2015 pact. which established an unstable ceasefire in Russia.
the region.
So yes, there was duplicity.
Yes, there was a deliberate and conscious choice by President Putin to launch the war when we could still negotiate peace," Macron said.
At Thursday's summit, EU leaders signed off on a new round of sanctions, described by European Council President Charles Michel as "massive" and "painful" against Russia and Belarus.
8 mins ago
Russian forces are about 20 miles from Kyiv, Biden administration officials tell lawmakers
By Michael Callahan, MJ Lee
Russian mechanized forces that had entered Ukraine through Belarus were about 20 miles from Kyiv, senior Biden administration officials told House lawmakers at a briefing Thursday, according to two sources on the call, which occurred around 6:30 p.m. ET.
The officials described another Russian element that entered Ukraine from Russia as being a little further away, but both were heading toward Kyiv with the goal of encircling the city and potentially overthrowing the Ukrainian government, according to the lawmaker on the call.
11 mins ago
Kyiv is attacked with cruise missiles or ballistic missiles, says Ukrainian government adviser
The Ukrainian capital came under missile attack early Friday local time, according to an adviser to the country's government.
"Attacks in Kyiv with cruise or ballistic missiles continued," Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the head of Ukraine's Interior Ministry, told reporters via text message.
A CNN team on the ground reported hearing two large explosions in central Kyiv and a third loud explosion in the distance early Friday.
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