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Russia-Ukraine latest news: explosions heard inside Kyiv as Zelenskiy vows to stay in capital – live updates 

12.30am EST 00:30

Summary

As dawn breaks in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, air raid sirens are sounding across the capital.

Earlier, residents reported waking to the sound of explosions as reports circulated that Russia had launched a series of missile strikes on the city of just under 3 million.

Many civilians sought safety in bomb shelters and metro stations as reports of Russian tanks were moving closer to the city from all sides.

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Here’s what we know so far:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed multiple reports of Russian missile strikes in a national address early on Friday morning.

Loud explosions were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Friday morning. A Guardian reporter in the city confirmed they heard what sounded like a loud explosion.

Two multi-story residential buildings were seen on fire in south-east Kyiv after they were reportedly hit by falling debris from an aircraft that was shot down. Photos published by Ukraine’s state emergency services department show a multi-story building burning.

The Ukrainian interior ministry said it shot down a Russian aircraft over Kyiv. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said the Russian aircraft was hit by the Ukrainian air force and fell in the Darnitsky district.

Russian forces were within kilometres of reaching Kyiv, according to US officials. According to a phone call that took place about 6:30pm ET on Thursday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers that Russian mechanised forces that entered Ukraine from Belarus were about 20 miles (32km) from Kyiv, the Associated Press reports citing a source familiar with the call.

The Ukrainian border post in Zaporizhzhya region was hit by a missile strike at 4.25am local time, Ukraine’s border guard service said.

Ukraine’s armed forces confirmed additional weapons are being brought to Kyiv, amid reports of explosions in the Ukrainian capital.

The EU’s Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, disclosed the details of the second tranche of sanctions against Russia.

French president Emmanuel Macron said Russian president Vladimir Putin had been duplicitous in his conversations with him, discussing the details of the Minsk agreements over the phone while preparing to invade Ukraine.

The United Nations announced it is immediately allocating $20m to scale up UN humanitarian operations in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy gave a national address, confirming 137 civilians and military personnel have been killed so far in the Russian invasion of his country.

Zelenskiy added that his country has been left on its own to fight Russia and he and his family remained in Ukraine, despite Russia identifying him as “target number one”.

the Ukrainian president also decreed a full military mobilization against the Russian invasion, which is to last 90 days.

Russians have also been bravely protesting against attacks on Ukraine despite the often heavy-handed consequences of doing so.

The US is ready to accept Ukrainian refugees fleeing Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said.

The government of Ukraine is asking for volunteers from the country’s hacker underground to help protect critical infrastructure and conduct cyber spying missions against Russian troops, according two people involved in the project who spoke with Reuters news agency.

12.24am EST 00:24

Zelenskiy confirms reports of Russian missile strikes in national address A damaged residential building in Kyiv on 25 February. Photograph: Ukrainian Ministry Of Emergencies/Reuters

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed multiple reports of Russian missile strikes in a national address early on Friday morning,

Zelenskiy said the strikes began at 4am local time on Friday, adding that Russian troops were stopped by Ukrainian forces from advancing in most directions.

The president added that Russian strikes aimed at both military and civilian targets, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, sirens rang out in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early on Friday, a Reuters witness said.

Updated at 12.36am EST

12.15am EST 00:15

US citizens are being urged to leave Ukraine immediately, according to a recent travel advisory.

“US citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options,” the US embassy in Kyiv said in a statement.

12.10am EST 00:10

Ukraine’s central bank has banned payments to entities in Russia and Belarus as well as operations involving both nations’ currencies, the regulator said on Friday, Reuters reports.

11.48pm EST 23:48

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has described the attack on Kyiv this morning as “horrific” likening the assault as akin to an attack from Nazi Germany.

Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany.

Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out of everywhere.”

11.37pm EST 23:37

Russian forces within kilometres of Kyiv, US defence secretary says - AP

Russian forces that entered Ukraine through Belarus are within kilometres of reaching Kyiv, according to US officials.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers on a phone call that Russian mechanised forces that entered from Belarus were about 20 miles (32km) from Kyiv, according to a person familiar with the call, the Associated Press reports.

The call was said to have taken place about 6:30pm ET.

The officials described another Russian element that entered Ukraine from Russia being a bit further away, but that both were headed toward Kyiv with the goal of encircling the city and potentially toppling the Ukrainian government, according to the lawmaker on the call.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier said the government had information that “subversive groups” were encroaching on the city, and US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Kyiv “could well be under siege”.

11.05pm EST 23:05

Amid the chaos happening in Kyiv, members of the Russian community have gathered in cities across the world to demonstrate their opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Here, one protester burns their Russian passport during a demonstration next to the Andrei Sakharov Square in Studio City in California on Thursday evening local time.

A protester burns their Russian passport during a demonstration next to the Andrei Sakharov Square in Studio City in California. Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA

10.53pm EST 22:53

Reports are coming in that two residential buildings are on fire in south-east Kyiv after they were hit by falling debris from an aircraft that was shot down.

Photos published by Ukraine’s state emergency services department show a multi-story building burning.

The fire comes after unconfirmed reports emerged from a Ukrainian interior ministry official who earlier said Russian aircraft had been shot down in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv.

Updated at 11.57pm EST

10.39pm EST 22:39

The Ukrainian border post in Zaporizhzhya region has been hit by a missile strike, Ukraine’s border guard service says.

The strike was reported to have occurred at 4.25am local time at the Primorsky Pasad border unit in the Zaporizhia region.

According to Ukraine’s armed forces, border guards were killed and wounded in the attack.

10.34pm EST 22:34

Ukraine’s military has uploaded a video of a fiery explosion seen in the sky over Kyiv this morning.

10.12pm EST 22:12

Luke Harding

The Guardian’s Luke Harding has shared this photo of an explosion in Kyiv.

He added the blast took place between metro stations Poznjaky and Kharkivska.

An explosion seen between the Poznjaky and Kharkivska metro stations in Kyiv. Photograph: Alex Kovzhun

Updated at 10.19pm EST

10.07pm EST 22:07

The Ukrainian interior ministry has said it shot down a Russian aircraft over Kyiv.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said the Russian aircraft was hit by the Ukrainian air force and fell in the Darnitsky district.

The official added a series of photos to his Telegram account on Friday, including what he said was a nine-storey residential building on fire.

Updated at 10.21pm EST

9.57pm EST 21:57

Ukraine’s armed forces have confirmed additional weapons are being brought to Kyiv, amid reports of explosions in the Ukrainian capital.

9.48pm EST 21:48

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, has said an attack on Kyiv is taking place in the early hours of Friday morning.

“Attacks on Kiev by cruise or ballistic missiles have just continued. I heard two powerful explosions just now,” Gerashchenko posted to his official Telegram account.

9.34pm EST 21:34

Multiple explosions heard in Kyiv: reports

We are receiving multiple reports from journalists on the ground in Ukraine that loud explosions have been heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Friday morning.

Guardian reporter Emma Graham Harrison confirmed she heard what sounded like a loud explosion while the Guardian’s Luke Harding said explosions are taking place in Kyiv.

One explosion occurred between metro station Poznjaky and Kharkivska, he said, adding that Ukraine’s operational command says its anti-aircraft defences are attacking Russian aircraft and drones.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Austria, Olexander Scherba, said he heard “two heavy explosions” around 4.25am.

A CNN team also reported hearing two large blasts in central Kyiv and a third loud explosion in the distance.

Agence France-Presse also issued an alert saying loud explosions were heard in central Kyiv.

Updated at 10.23pm EST

9.18pm EST 21:18

Daniel Boffey

French president Emmanuel Macron talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Friday. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

As the EU’s institutional leaders, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, disclosed the details of the second tranche of sanctions against Russia, they were joined at a press conference in Brussels by French president Emmanuel Macron.

Macron told reporters that Vladimir Putin had launched “massive” military attacks rather than the “targeted” ones that the Russian president had claimed he was undertaking.

Macron’s subsequent comments then reflected the concerns of some member states that the EU is not going far enough on sanctions.

He said: “It is an initial response, we have decided to inflict severe costs upon Moscow in different sectors, further measures at a government level will be taken”.

Despite calls from Kyiv, EU has not cut Russia off from the Swift international payments system.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) is used by over 11,000 financial institutions to send secure payment orders and is key to the movement of funds to Russia’s oil and gas sector.

Removing Russia from the system, it is argued, would make it close to impossible for financial institutions to send money in or out of the country, with consequences for both the country’s oil and gas sector and its European customers.

Updated at 9.23pm EST

9.16pm EST 21:16

A quick snap from US president Joe Biden, describing the Russian president’s actions as the unleashing of “a great deal of pain”.

The next few days, weeks, and months will be hard on the people of Ukraine.

Putin has unleashed a great pain on them. But the Ukrainian people have known 30 years of independence — and they have shown that they will not tolerate anyone who tries to take their country backwards.”