Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces are targeting civilian areas as Russia pressed its invasion to the outskirts of Kyiv after unleashing air strikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides.
“They say that civilian objects are not a target for them. But this is another lie of theirs. In reality, they do not distinguish between areas in which they operate,” Zelenskiy said in a video address early on February 25.
“Ukrainians are demonstrating heroism,” he said, adding that “all our forces are doing everything possible” to protect people.
The Ukrainian leader said that his country was facing Russia’s attacks “alone.”
“This morning we are defending our state alone. Like yesterday, 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 was not enough,” he said.
The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv called an air raid alert after Russian missile strikes early on February 25, Ukrainian television said, as municipal authorities urged people to go to the nearest shelters.
Zelenskiy said Russia resumed missile strikes at 4 a.m. local time on February 25, but its troops had been stopped from advancing in most directions.
He said 137 civilians and military personnel had been killed in the Russian attacks.
He called them “heroes” in a video address released early on February 25 in which he also says more than 300 people were injured in less than 24 hours of fighting.
Explosions sounded by Kyiv early on February 25 as air sirens went off.
The Ukrainian military reported significant fighting in the area of Ivankiv, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Kyiv.
“The hardest day will be today. The enemy’s plan is to break through with tank columns from the side of Ivankiv and Chernihiv to Kyiv,” Interior Ministry adviser Anton Herashchenko said on Telegram.
Zelenskiy said he understood Russian troops were coming for him but vowed to stay in Kyiv.
“[The] enemy has marked me down as the number one target,” Zelenskiy said in a video message. “My family is the number two target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.”
“I will stay in the capital. My family is also in Ukraine,” he said.
“They’re killing people and turning peaceful cities into military targets. It’s foul and will never be forgiven,” Zelenskiy said.
Scenes From An Invasion: Russia Launches Long-Predicted Attack Against Ukraine
Moscow’s long-feared attack on Ukraine began early on February 24, with missiles being fired at airports and military infrastructure in many cities after Russia President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special” operation to “demilitarize” its neighbor and rival.
The president said all border guards on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island in the Odesa region were killed. All of them will be posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine, he said.
Ukraine’s border guard service earlier in the day reported that the island was taken by Russian forces.
Zelenskiy said that, despite the losses, the armed forces of Ukraine were “brilliantly defending the country against one of the most powerful nations in the world.”
Russia began its invasion before dawn on February 24, unleashing air strikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from multiple directions. The deputy defense minister reported heavy Russian shelling in the eastern Donetsk region.
Live Briefing: Ukraine Under Attack
Check out RFE/RL’s live briefing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how Kyiv and the West are reacting. Ukraine Under Attack presents the latest developments and analysis, updated throughout the day.
Ukrainian officials said their forces were battling Russians on multiple fronts and had lost control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
Heavy exchanges of fire also took place in the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv in the northeast and Kherson and Odesa, Ukraine’s most important seaport, in the south.
Russian troops entered the city of Sumy near the border with Russia that sits on a highway leading to Kyiv from the east. The regional governor, Dmytro Zhivitsky, said Ukrainian forces fought Russian troops in the city overnight, but other Russian convoys kept rolling west toward the Ukrainian capital.
“Military vehicles from Sumy are moving toward Kyiv,” Zhivitsky said. “Much equipment has passed through and is heading directly to the west.”
Ukraine requested an urgent debate at the UN Human Rights Council, the United Nations said.
The request is in response “to the extremely grave deterioration in the human rights situation in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s hostilities on Ukrainian territory,” Yevheniia Filipenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said in a letter sent to the president’s forum.
The council president will meet and discuss the request with the 47-member body, a UN statement said. A simple majority is needed to hold an urgent debate during its main annual session opening on February 28.
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden announced new sanctions against Russia, saying Putin “chose this war” and that his country would bear the consequences of his action.
Biden was to meet on February 25 with fellow leaders of NATO governments in what the White House described as an “extraordinary virtual summit” to discuss Ukraine.
Speaking on February 25, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Russia intends to take the whole of Ukraine but the Russian Army failed to deliver on the first day of its invasion.
For his part, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of trying to destroy Ukraine’s statehood, warning that the “security” of its president was at risk.
“This is total war. Putin has decided… to take Ukraine off the map of nations,” Le Drian told France Inter radio on February 25.
Zelenskiy urged the United States and the West to impose even harsher sanctions and cut the Russians from the SWIFT system, a key financial network that connects thousands of banks around the world. Biden said the U.S. and its partners were withholding that move for now but could impose more sanctions later.
