| Overnight, Russian forces used cruise and ballistic missiles in attacks on Kyiv, according to the Ukraine interior ministry. The Ukraine army said it is fighting Russian forces within a few miles of the capital as of this writing (AFP and The New York Times). Other reports describe gunfire inside the city as air raid sirens blare (ABC News). Reports Friday from the ground and from intelligence suggest the initial Russian targets may be airports, part of a plan to fly more troops and light armored equipment into the capital to try to seize control along with the nation’s government. Other key Ukrainian cities were under attack on Friday, according to media reports. “They say that civilian objects are not a target for them,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday of the Russian assault. “It is a lie, they do not distinguish in which areas to operate” (The New York Times). Military analysts suggest Russia may try to use cyberattacks and attacks on Ukraine’s electrical grid, which Russia has done before, as part of a plan to gain control of Kyiv and sow panic among its 2.8 million residents. President Biden expanded U.S. sanctions against Russia on Thursday, targeting major Russian banks and imposing export controls to hurt Moscow’s defense and tech industries amid a coordinated effort with allies to penalize the Kremlin for missile attacks across Ukraine and its invasion of troops (The Hill). Axios: Images describing how Russia’s attack is unfolding in Ukraine. As Ukrainians fled the capital and cities elsewhere, others with nowhere to go huddled underground (pictured below) as missiles exploded across a country of 44 million people and Russia sought to immobilize Ukraine’s defenses and communications capabilities. NATO and the U.S. today plan an emergency summit among the 30-nation security alliance, saying the alliance will beef up defenses near Ukraine and Russia (ABC News). As of Thursday, at least 137 people had been killed in Ukraine and at least 316 injured, according to the Ukraine government (NBC News). Biden on Thursday said international sanctions against Russia were never anticipated to “prevent” this week’s attack ordered by President Vladimir Putin, a comment that sparked confusion because he, Vice President Harris and global officials had repeatedly described the threat of sanctions as a potential “deterrent.” Biden said the sanctions he announced on Thursday, and those still on the table for the future, will take time — likely “months” — to weaken Russia and force Putin to pay a price for unprovoked aggression that Biden said is ultimately aimed at seizing Eastern European territory beyond Ukraine. “This is a dangerous moment for all of Europe,” Biden said. Today, Russia announced its first response to Western sanctions: British planes will be banned from flying to Russia or crossing its airspace, which could affect flights from London to Asia. Britain this week banned the Russian national airline Aeroflot, The New York Times reported from Moscow. 
© AP/Zoya Shu CNN: Russian forces seized control of the Chernobyl power plant in northern Ukraine, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster. NPR: The Ukraine crisis was paved by the failure of diplomacy. Gerald F. Seib, The Wall Street Journal: Russia’s strike changes not just Ukraine but the world. Niall Stanage: The Memo: Biden locks into battle with enigmatic Putin. CNN: Here’s what the U.S. sanctions announced by Biden would do. The U.S. did not expel Russia from the SWIFT international banking system or sanction Putin personally, despite pleas from Ukraine and some members of Congress to pull the plug on SWIFT and make the Russian president pay for his aggression. Biden said SWIFT expulsion remains an “option,” but lacked unanimity among European partners. He argued that the collection of banks sanctioned by the U.S. imposed a substantial cutoff to Russia’s access to international financing. The Hill: Biden vows to alienate Russia as “pariah”; faces challenges. Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker: In Washington, a Ukraine tragedy foretold. Although Biden said he had “no plans” to speak with Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron called the Russian president on Thursday to demand an end to the attack on Ukraine, which is not a NATO member, and he explained the French sanctions in coordination with the NATO alliance (The Wall Street Journal). Biden spoke with Zelensky on Wednesday night and Macron spoke with him on Thursday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with the Ukraine president Friday. Zelensky vowed on Thursday to stay put with his family. Russia, he said, seeks to destroy the Ukrainian government and he noted information that Russian sabotage groups had entered the capital. “The enemy marked me as target No. 1 and my family as target No. 2. I am staying in Kyiv,” he declared. CNN: Zelensky by declaration bars Ukrainian males ages between 18 and 60 from leaving the country. The Hill: Putin claims he was “forced” to invade Ukraine. Biden said another 7,000 U.S. troops are heading to Germany but U.S. forces would not fight in Ukraine. Should Russia’s attacks — including cyberattacks — strike NATO nations, the United States could be drawn militarily into the crisis because of its commitment to back NATO members, Biden conceded. The president briefed the top four leaders in Congress on Thursday (Politico). The Wall Street Journal: The White House said it sees no increased threat of a nuclear attack amid the Ukraine crisis. The Hill: Five things to know as Russia presses into Ukraine. The president, who said any country that does business with Russia now is “stained by association,” ducked a question on Thursday about whether he urged China to help isolate its ally, Russia. Beijing has rejected calling Moscow’s attack on Ukraine an invasion (Reuters and CNN). China is using charter flights to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine, while Australia publicly criticized China’s “lack of a strong response” against Russia’s aggression (CNN). Bloomberg News: On Thursday, oil prices soared past $100 per barrel as Russia targeted Ukraine for attacks. Reuters: Biden said on Thursday the United States is working with other countries on a combined release of additional oil from global strategic crude reserves, and a source with knowledge of the talks said the plan was in the "early stages." CNBC: Stock market futures fall after a stunning comeback on Thursday as investors assess geopolitical tensions.
© AP/Alex Brandon | 
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