Ukraine's president says Russia will try to 'break our resistance' and topple the government before the night is over
- Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday night in Ukraine "will be harder than the day."
- Zelensky said Ukrainians could not afford to lose their capital of Kyiv to Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday night that the future of his country "is being decided right now," a dire forecast that came amid reports that Russian troops were approaching Kyiv from multiple directions.
"Tonight, the enemy will use all the resources they have to break our resistance in a mean, cruel, and inhuman way," Zelensky said in a message to his nation, according to a translation of his remarks. "Tonight, they will assault us."
He added that many Ukrainian cities remained under attack and once again called on his fellow citizens to use whatever means necessary to repel Russian forces. Earlier in the day, a video posted by a reporter with The Kyiv Independent appeared to show Ukrainian men helping themselves to guns a day after citizens were urged to take up arms.
"Burn down the enemy's military vehicles using anything — anything — you can. If even the kindergartens are an admissible target for the invaders, you must not leave them any chance," he said.
The United Kingdom's Defense Ministry said earlier Friday: "Russian armored forces are progressing toward Kyiv from multiple directions in an attempt to encircle the city." Insider could not immediately verify these claims.
Zelensky thanked President Joe Biden as he ticked through the list of Western leaders he'd spoken with in the past 24 hours. Zelensky has elected to remain in Kyiv, even though he previously said Russia wanted to kill him and his family.
Zelensky previously called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to "sit down at the negotiating table." The New York Times reported that Ukrainian officials asked Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to mediate talks between Ukraine and Russia. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin's spokesperson, told reporters on Friday that Putin was ready to send officials to Minsk, Belarus, a country from which Putin invaded Ukraine.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba compared the previous night's strikes to World War II, saying his country had not faced a moment like this since the Nazis attacked.
"Last time our capital experienced anything like this was in 1941 when it was attacked by Nazi Germany," he tweeted. "Ukraine defeated that evil and will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. Severe all ties. Kick Russia out."
The West has responded by further ramping up sanctions. NATO, which Ukraine is not a member of, also made the historic decision to activate the alliance's response force. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said it would send troops to bolster eastern-flank members. The exact numbers and troop destinations were unclear, but that was a sign of just how serious NATO was taking the situation given that the response force had never before been activated.
Both the European Union and the US have pledged to sanction Putin personally, a rare step in the realm of foreign diplomacy. The White House's decision to target Putin puts him on a short list with the likes of Kim Jong Un, Bashar Assad, and Robert Mugabe.