Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\tUkrainians trapped on Snake Island to the Russians demanding their surrender: \u2018go fuck yourself.\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The border guards manning the small island were later killed, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n
Zhivitsky added that another northeastern city, Konotop, was also sieged. He urged residents of the region to fight the Russian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As air raids sirens sounded in Kyiv early Friday, guests of a hotel in the city center were directed to a makeshift basement shelter, lined with piles of mattresses and bottles of water. Workers, all local university students, served tea and cookies to the guests. Some people ducked out to a courtyard to smoke or get fresh air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all scared and worried. We don\u2019t know what to do then, what\u2019s going to happen in a few days,\u201d said one of the workers, Lucy Vashaka, 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Russian military claims it has destroyed 118 Ukrainian military assets since the beginning of its assault on its neighbor and as it pushes into the outskirts of Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The claim could not be independently verified and was not confirmed by Ukraine amid a flurry of claims and counterclaims by each side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that among the targets were 11 Ukrainian air bases, 13 command facilities, 36 air defense radars, 14 air defense missile systems, 5 warplanes, 18 tanks and warships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, U.K. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace rejected Russian claims of success on the first day of its invasion of Ukraine, saying it had \u201cfailed to deliver\u201d on its day one objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wallace told Sky News that the Western assessment is that Russia had failed to take its major objectives and is behind on its timetable for advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve lost over 450 personnel,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. Ukrainian and U.S. officials said Russian forces were attacking from the east toward Kharkiv, Ukraine\u2019s second-largest city; from the southern region of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014; and from Belarus to the north.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. President Joe Biden was to meet Friday morning with fellow leaders of NATO governments in what the White House described as an \u201cextraordinary virtual summit\u201d to discuss Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that France and its European allies have decided to \u201cinflict very severe blows on Moscow,\u201d further sanctioning individuals and targeting finance, energy and other sectors. The legal texts for the sanctions will be finalized and submitted for approval to EU foreign ministers later Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron also said the EU has decided on economic aid for Ukraine in the amount of 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The French president also called the Belorussian government \u201can accomplice\u201d in Russia\u2019s military invasion of Ukraine, and said it will also be targeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPeople rest in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending troops and tanks from multiple directions in a move that could rewrite the world’s geopolitical landscape. (AP Photo\/Emilio Morenatti)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nUkraine\u2019s nuclear energy regulatory agency says that higher than usual gamma radiation levels have been detected in the area near the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear plant, after it was seized by the Russian military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate said Friday that higher gamma radiation levels have been detected in the Chernobyl zone, but didn\u2019t provide details of the increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It attributed the rise to a \u201cdisturbance of the topsoil due to the movement of a large amount of heavy military equipment through the exclusion zone and the release of contaminated radioactive dust into the air.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian authorities said that Russia took the plant and its surrounding exclusion zone after a fierce battle Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Russian airborne troops were protecting the plant to prevent any possible \u201cprovocations.\u201d He insisted that radiation levels in the area have remained normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said it was told by Ukraine of the takeover, adding that there had been \u201cno casualties or destruction at the industrial site.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1986 disaster occurred when a nuclear reactor at the plant 80 miles north of Kyiv exploded, sending a radioactive cloud across Europe. The damaged reactor was later covered by a protective shell to prevent leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also Friday, world leaders began to fine-tune a response meant to punish the Russian economy and its leaders, including President Vladimir Putin\u2019s inner circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there\u2019s an acute awareness that a military intervention isn\u2019t possible, for now, the strength, unity and speed of the financial sanctions \u2014 with the striking exception of China, a strong Russian supporter \u2014 signal a growing global determination to make Moscow reconsider its attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\nUkrainian servicemen sit atop armored personnel carriers driving on a road in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences you have never seen.” (AP Photo\/Vadim Ghirda)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he is \u201cclosely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Karim Khan issued a statement Friday on Twitter while on a visit to Bangladesh, where he is investigating crimes against Myanmar\u2019s Rohingya minority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khan said he alerted \u201call sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine\u201d that Ukraine has accepted the court\u2019s jurisdiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means \u201cmy office may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014 onwards,\u201d Khan added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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