Ukraine's Capital Is Enduring Another Day Of Explosions As Russia Presses Ahead With Its Invasion
Kyiv’s mayor said three people were injured, at least one of them critically, after debris struck a residential building before dawn.
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by Stephanie K. Baer, 
by Christopher MillerUpdated 5 hours agoPosted 6 hours ago
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Vadim Ghirda / AP Ukrainian servicemembers sit atop armored personnel carriers driving on a road in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
{ "id": 128815758 }KYIV, Ukraine — Residents in Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv endured a second day of explosions Friday as Russia's military continued a widely condemned invasion that has already been blamed for the deaths of more than 100 troops and civilians.
BuzzFeed News journalists on the ground reported hearing multiple explosions in the predawn hours. As the morning wore on, multiple videos and images of fire in the sky were posted on social media, although the exact causes could not immediately be verified.
Ukrainian Interior Ministry Adviser Anton Gerashchenko shared video of an explosion, but there were conflicting reports over what it was. Officials later said a Ukrainian air defense system preventing two air strikes shortly after 4 a.m. The Ukraine Interior Ministry also said there were casualties after Russia attacked a border guard unit in the Zaporizhia region with rockets at 4:25 a.m.
On Facebook, Ukraine’s Office of General Staff said Hostomel Airport remained under the control of Kyiv forces, but that heavy fighting with Russian forces continued northwest of the capital. The bridge over Teteriv River was also destroyed to stop the Russian advance.
"They say that civilian objects are not a target for them. This is a lie," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a bilingual video address Friday morning. "In fact, they do not distinguish in which areas to operate."
Ukraine State Emergency Services reported that eight people were injured after debris struck an apartment building in Kyiv, causing a fire. A house in the city's outskirts also caught fire after being hit by fragments, officials said. They did not yet have information about possible injuries in that blaze as of Friday morning.
Hundreds of miles away in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine, emergency responders were rescuing people from buildings struck by shelling, officials said. At least six people were rescued and one was killed, according to state emergency services.
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Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba decried the attack on the country’s capital, which he said had not seen anything like it since Nazi Germany attacked in 1941 during World War II.
“Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one,” Kuleba tweeted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the strike despite tougher sanctions imposed by the international community and widespread condemnation, including from the NATO North Atlantic Council, United Nations, and G7 leaders.
Zelensky on Thursday compared Russia's actions to that of the Soviet Union, describing the invasion as the "sound of the new Iron Curtain that’s falling and closing Russia from the civilized world."
He also asked world leaders for “powerful assistance” in fighting Russia on multiple fronts, saying that if they don’t, “tomorrow the war will knock on your door.”
To that end, President Joe Biden said he was sending additional troops to Germany to strengthen NATO members against Russian aggression, although he made it clear that US forces would not be on the frontlines of the conflict. Instead, he announced new sanctions that included blocking the assets of four large Russian banks, export controls, and sanctioning more oligarchs and their families.
"This is a dangerous moment for all of Europe and freedom around the world," he said.
In a six-minute video message posted just after midnight Friday, Zelensky thanked foreign leaders who have offered their support, but said Ukraine had been left alone to defend itself.
“Who is ready to fight with us? Honestly — I do not see such,” he said, speaking from Kyiv.
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Emilio Morenatti / AP Traffic clogs roadways as people try to leave Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022.
{ "id": 128815758 }Zelensky said that based on the country’s intelligence he believed he is the No. 1 target and that Russia’s aim was to take down Ukraine politically “by destroying the head of state.”
In his second address hours later, the Ukrainian president again pointed to the lack of military support from foreign nations, saying "the world's most powerful forces are watching from afar."
"Did yesterday's sanctions convince Russia? We hear in our sky and see on our earth that this is not enough," Zelensky said. "Foreign troops are still trying to become more active in our territory."
Even before the invasion of Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said they were losing ground on multiple fronts and that Russian forces had seized control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The invasion started with air missiles striking cities across Ukraine in the early morning hours on Thursday, and escalated hours later with ground troops moving over the border from Crimea, which Russia took by force in 2014.
The violence expanded to regions previously untouched by the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Video posted on social media Thursday morning appeared to show a missile hitting Ivano-Frankivsk, a city hundreds of miles west of that front line. The military assault prompted thousands of people in larger cities like Kyiv to take shelter in underground subway stations.
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Emilio Morenatti / AP A woman holds her baby as she boards a bus leaving Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022.
{ "id": 128815758 }As night fell, the Russian military claimed to have destroyed at least 74 Ukrainian military sites, including 11 airfields. Zelensky said that at least 137 Ukrainians had been killed so far, including both civilian and military casualties, and another 316 people had been wounded. Ukraine’s health minister said earlier that the casualties included a boy who died when shelling struck an apartment building.
The situation started to rapidly deteriorate when on Monday, Putin recognized the “independence” of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — two areas that actually belong to Ukraine but were taken by Russia during a war it started eight years ago. Reacting to bogus and unproven reports of alleged Ukrainian aggression, Putin then ordered his troops into the two territories on a “peacekeeping mission” in what was widely seen as a false pretext for war.
Even though Putin has denied ambitions to occupy Ukraine, he has also said he sees no reason for the country to exist independently of Russia and the US suspects his aim is to install his own puppet regime. Amid an uncertain future and the violent invasion reaching deeper into their country, Ukrianians moved quickly to gather essential supplies for whatever comes next. Long lines were seen outside gas stations, banks, and pharmacies. Highways were also clogged as people tried to flee west, with the country’s European neighbors preparing for an influx of refugees.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates and follow BuzzFeed News on Twitter.
Stephanie Baer reported from Los Angeles.
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Originally posted on: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/kyiv-russian-invasion