Feb 25, 2022: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vowed to stay in Kyiv as his troops fight Russian troops advancing on the capital in the biggest attack on a European state since World War II.

Russia launched its offensive by land, air and sea on Thursday after President Vladimir Putin declared war. An estimated 100,000 people fled major cities after the bombings and shootings. Zelenskyy said 137 people were killed on the first day of the attack.

“[The] enemy has marked me down as the number one target,” Zelenskyy warned in a video message on Friday as heavy fighting was reported on multiple fronts. “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.”

U.S and Ukrainian officials say Russia’s goal is to seize Kyiv and overthrow the government, which Putin considers an American puppet. Russian troops seized the former nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Kyiv, as they advanced towards the shortest route to the capital with Belarus in the north.

Speaking about Zelenskyy’s concerns, U.S Secretary of State Blinken said, “To the best of my knowledge, President Zelenskyy remains in Ukraine at his post, and of course we’re concerned for the safety of all of our friends in Ukraine – government officials and others.”

Putin says Russia is conducting a “special military operation” to prevent the Ukrainian government from committing genocide against its own people – an allegation the West has denied. He also says that Ukraine is an illegitimate state whose lands have historically belonged to Russia.

The United States, Britain, Japan, Canada, Australia and the European Union imposed further sanctions on Moscow earlier this week, including a move by Germany to block a 11 billion gas pipeline from Russia. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the bloc’s measures as “the harshest package of sanctions we have ever implemented”.

Oil prices soared as much as $2 per barrel on Friday as markets brace for the effect of trade sanctions on key crude exporter Russia. Airlines were also facing disruptions, with Japan Airlines cancelling its Thursday evening flight to Moscow and the UK closing its airspace to Russian carriers.

Meanwhile, President Biden speaking to press at the White House said, “Any nation that countenances Russia’s naked aggression against Ukraine will be stained by association.”

The US and other NATO members have sent military aid to Ukraine but there is no move to send troops for fear of sparking a wider European conflict.

The UN Security Council will vote on a draft resolution on Friday condemning Russia’s attack and calling for Moscow’s immediate withdrawal. However, Moscow could veto the move, and it was unclear how China would vote.

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