“Horrific rocket strikes": Day 2 of Russia offensive in Ukraine - 10 facts
Russia-Ukraine crisis: Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine despite calls from the west to maintain restraint.
"Horrific rocket strikes" shook Ukraine's capital Kyiv on Day 2 of Russia offensive, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday, underlining on Twitter: "Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany". Despite global pressure, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “full-scale invasion” on Thursday that left 137 dead in one of the worst crises in Europe since the World War-2. Major cities - including Kyiv - came under military strikes in attacks by land, air and sea. Visuals of destruction flooded social media as world leaders expressed horror and made urgent appeals of restraint and calm. Over 1,700 were detained in Russia amid huge protests against the war on Kyiv.
Here are ten points on Russia's attack on Ukraine:
1. In an important update, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday morning said Moscow was stropped from advancing in most directions after the missile strikes resumed at around 4 am local time. He also pledged to stay in Kyiv: "(The) enemy has marked me down as the number one target. 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."
2. "Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Malyar informs: Estimated losses of the enemy as of 03:00 25.02.2022 Aircraft 7 units Helicopters 6 units Tanks - more than 30 units. BBM - 130 units. The loss of enemy personnel is approximately (to be specified) 800 people," Ukraine's Defense Ministry tweeted, Reurters reported. In Kyiv, an "enemy aircraft" was downed, officials said as Moscow advanced on the outskirts of the capital. 137 “heroes,” including 10 military officers, had been killed and 316 people wounded on Thursday, Zelensky said in a video address.
3. The crisis is escalating fast as world leaders talk of nuclear weapons. After Putin's threat to the west, France on Friday said the NATO too has nuclear weapons. “As for military affairs, even after the dissolution of the USSR and losing a considerable part of its capabilities, today's Russia remains one of the most powerful nuclear states. Moreover, it has a certain advantage in several cutting-edge weapons. In this context, there should be no doubt for anyone that any potential aggressor will face defeat and ominous consequences should it directly attack our country" - Putin had said on Thursday in his pre-invasion address.
4. India too is trying to get about 16,000 people back to home to safety from Ukraine. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a phone call with Putin on Thursday night; the foreign ministry is chalking out a list of land routes for evacuation.
5. The United States has hit Russia with fresh sanctions even as President Joe Biden admitted that the sanctions may not be enough to stop Putin, saying, "Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences." He described him as "sinister vision of the world" with misguided dream of recreating the Soviet Union.
6. In fresh US sanctions, Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen has been targeted. Five major banks - including state-backed Sberbank and VTB - and Sberbank, Russia's largest lender, are on the list.
7. On Day-1, Russia targeted government and military installations in Ukraine as the attack quickly escalated forcing Kyiv to close airspace - satellite images from Europe showed what seemed like a big hole above Ukraine as other nations saw business as usual. Ukraine lost control of Chernobyl Power Plant, the site of the 1986 disaster. The White House said it has credible reports that hostages were held at the nuclear power plant.
8. Global markets shuddered on Thursday as Russia launched military offensive. In the US, wholesale prices rose for everything from gasoline to wheat, reports said.
9. World condemnation has followed and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called Russia's attack “a brutal act of war”, stressing that Moscow had shattered peace on the European continent. On Thursday, Putin had warned of the "greatest consequences in the global history" if the West intervened.
10. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he aimed to cut off Russia from the U.K.’s financial markets. In his list of sanctions, he froze the assets of all large Russian banks. “Now we see him for what he is — a bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest,” Johnson said of Putin. Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan have announced sanctions against Russia.
(With inputs from Reuters, AFP, AP)
(With inputs from Reuters, AFP, AP)