This live blog is now closed. For the latest updates please check here.
President Joe Biden asked Congress to fund a new $33 billion Ukraine aid package Thursday as the West stepped up support for Kyiv and embraced a more ambitious goal of weakening Russia despite intensifying threats and action from the Kremlin.
Biden spoke at the White House after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of “lightning fast” retaliation against any countries that interfere in Ukraine.
In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Biden, and said the proposed support is an important step by the U.S. and a necessary one for his country's defense.
The announcement came amid ongoing reports of Russian strikes to cities across Ukraine, from the Luhansk region in the east to Zaporizhzhia in the southeast.
Ten people were reported to be wounded after two missiles struck Kyiv on Thursday missiles struck Kyiv on Thursday evening as U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was visiting the city, where he witnessed the damage caused to suburbs and towns surrounding the capital.
Also Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv announced that a bodyguard who had taken leave to fight Russian forces had died. Information about how he died was not provided.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s move to cut off gas supplies to NATO members Poland and Bulgaria left Europe confronting the prospect of an energy crisis as the conflict increasingly extends into a broader standoff with Russia over economic sanctions and military shipments.
Zelenskyy accused Moscow of using gas and trade as weapons, even as his efforts to rally support for his country’s defensive cause appeared to be succeeding despite Putin’s efforts to weaken the West’s resolve.
Two missiles strike Kyiv as U.N. secretary-general visits
KYIV, Ukraine — Two missiles struck Kyiv on Thursday evening, injuring 10 people, Ukrainian emergency service officials said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russia fired two missiles on the Shevchenkivskyi district, known to be home to a group of universities and art galleries near the center of the city, but he said "all services are in place."
Svitlana Vodolaga, a spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service, confirmed the strikes and said there were victims. The missiles hit on the first floor, and people were above it.
Ten people were wounded and four were hospitalized, the Kyiv City Administration said early Friday.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres was visiting the city at the time and witnessed the damage to suburbs and towns surrounding Kyiv. Guterres earlier traveled to Russia, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Andrii Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, said on his Telegram channel that Russia must be stripped of its veto power on the U.N. Security Council.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, sent a jab toward Guterres on Twitter for meeting with Putin and also called for Russia to be removed from the Security Council.
"The day before he was sitting at a long table in the Kremlin, and today explosions are above his head," he said. "Postcard from Moscow?"
Heavy fighting in Luhansk oblast as Russia continues attack on Donbas, U.K. says
Russian forces have been attempting to advance south from the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum as they continue a focus on the Donbas region, the U.K.'s defense ministry said Friday.
Fighting has been particularly heavy around Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, which are both in the Luhansk oblast, or province, it said in a daily intelligence update.
A senior U.S. Defense Department official also said in a briefing Thursday in Washington that Russian forces have been continuing to try to move south out of Izyum.
“They are making some slow and incremental progress, but not enough that changes the actual battlefield situation,” the U.S. official said. The official said that in the region there's "a lot of back-and-forth and on any given day it changes."
There have been more than 1,900 missile launches against Ukraine since Russia attacked and invaded the country on Feb. 24, the U.S. official said. Most of the missile launches and strikes by fixed-wing aircraft continue to be focused on the Donbas region, the official said.
Talks with Bulgarian prime minister on energy, defense were 'very substantive,' Zelenskyy says
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had “very substantive and warm talks” on energy and defense cooperation with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov during his visit to Kyiv on Thursday.
Zelenskyy said they agreed that damaged Ukrainian military equipment could be repaired at Bulgarian plants and then sent back to Ukraine.
“Another issue we agreed on was the supply of Ukrainian electricity to Bulgaria and the joint use of the Trans-Balkan gas pipeline” to diversify energy supplies in the region, Zelenskyy said late Thursday in his nightly video address to the nation.
Russia this week cut off natural gas supplies to Bulgaria and also to Poland, two NATO members that have been among the strongest European supporters of Ukraine in the war.
Although Bulgaria gets over 90 percent of its gas from Russia, the cutoff does not immediately put the country in dire trouble because there are other potential suppliers. The Trans-Balkan gas pipeline runs from Greece through Bulgaria and Romania to Ukraine.
U.S. Embassy bodyguard in Kyiv dies fighting Russian forces
A U.S. Embassy bodyguard in Kyiv who took leave from his job to fight Russian forces has died, the embassy said Thursday.
The bodyguard, identified only as Volodymyr, had rejoined the country’s armed forces to defend against the Russian invasion, the embassy said on Twitter.
“We will never forget his kind spirit, dedication and bravery,” the embassy said. “Our deepest condolences go to his family and friends.”
Additional details about his death were not provided.
11-year-old boy among injured in Zaporizhzhia rocket strike
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine — An 11-year-old Ukrainian boy was one of at least three people wounded in what emergency officials are calling the first Russian strike in a residential area of the southern city of Zaporizhzhia since Russia’s invasion began.
The city has been a crucial waypoint for tens of thousands of people fleeing the besieged southern port of Mariupol.
The rocket strike came Thursday as parts of southern Ukraine prepared for a further onslaught by Russian forces who seek to strip the country of its coastline.
Residents said at least eight homes in the modest neighborhood were damaged or destroyed.
Glass shards cut the boy’s right leg to the bone. The injured boy’s father, Vadym Vodostoyev, said “it just takes one second and you’re left with nothing.”
Zelenskyy, U.N. chief discuss evacuation of Azvostal steel plant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday discussed the evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Mariupol, including the Azovstal steel plant where civilians are sheltering, Zelenskyy said on his website.
Guterres also discussed the issue with Russia President Vladimir Putin on a recent visit to that country, Zelenskyy said.
“We see that despite the words of the Russian President about the alleged cessation of hostilities in Mariupol, the territory of the Azovstal plant is under barbaric bombing by the Russian army," Zelenskyy said. "And this continued even during the talks of the Secretary-General in Moscow.”
