Kyiv

"The sanctions are designed to persuade Russia to end the conflict as soon as possible. The freezing of the assets of the Central Bank of Russia is an unprecedented move by the international community, as it will have serious difficulties in spending its huge savings to finance this war."

This was stated to bTV today by the Minister of Innovation and Growth Daniel Lorer.

Leading Republicans spent much of three days avoiding Donald Trump's chief grievances or ignoring him altogether as they unified behind a midterm message designed to win back the voters the polarizing former president alienated while in office.

That changed Saturday night.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu asked Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to end the military operation in Ukraine during a phone call on Feb. 26, a Turkish diplomatic source said.

Ankara has repeatedly called the Russian invasion of Ukraine "unacceptable".

The first Russian troops entered Kyiv, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said, quoted by the DPA.

Russian "saboteurs" are operating in the Obolon district in the northern part of the capital, the ministry announced on Facebook. The information cannot be confirmed by independent sources, DPA reports, quoted by BTA.

A traffic jam in Kyiv, Ukraine, 24 February 2022. EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

At midday on Thursday there were already reports from Poland about trains arriving in Warsaw this morning full of Ukrainians, with some saying these tickets were purchased days ago in expectation of a Russian invasion.

According to an eyewitness, distant loud noises were heard in Kyiv, similar to artillery fire, Reuters reported.

Invasion of Ukraine: Putin Decided to Conduct "Special Operation to Protect Donbas"

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has asked its citizens to leave Russia immediately. That's over 1 million people.

This is partly due to the argument that Kyiv will not be able to provide consular services to the population and it will become impossible to assist them when needed. Ukraine's diplomatic service also warned planners to travel to Russia to refrain from such steps.

The White House is not planning a summit between the presidents of the United States and Russia, said Joe Biden's spokeswoman Jen Psaki. She explained this by the escalation of the crisis between Moscow and Kyiv.

"President Biden is open to diplomacy, but the moment Putin is preparing to invade a sovereign state is not suitable for top-level talks," Saki said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Feb. 22 cut short his trip to Africa, his office said, as the Turkish leader stepped up diplomacy over the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin defied Western warnings and approved sending troops into eastern Ukraine on Monday to support two rebel regions' independence claims.

Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine's northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Russia another step closer to what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine.

Residents of Ukraine's capital filled a gold-domed cathedral to pray for peace.