February 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

By Aditi Sangal, Adrienne Vogt, Amy Woodyatt, Rob Picheta, Ed Upright, Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 3:47 a.m. ET, February 26, 2022

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5:18 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

Sirens sounded across Kyiv Friday morning

From CNN's Tim Lister in Kyiv

Sirens rang out across Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv on Friday morning.

CNN witnessed a group of Ukrainian security forces leave the city police headquarters with weapons and ammunition -- apparently heading towards the northern district of Obolon, where fighting has been reported.

What is happening in Kyiv? Ukrainians in the capital huddled in air raid shelters Friday morning, amid claims of troops blowing up a bridge to stop an advance of Russian forces.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Russian reconnaissance troops have entered Obolon, which is just a few miles from the city center.

The ministry in a tweet asked citizens of the district to report any suspicious movements and adds: "Make Molotov cocktails and take down the occupier."

Before dawn, explosions lit up the sky as Russia targeted the city with missile strikes, according to a Ukrainian government adviser. A CNN team reported hearing two large blasts in central Kyiv and a third loud explosion in the distance, followed by at least three more explosions to the southwest of the city a few hours later.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said airborne assault troops blew up a bridge over the Teteriv River at Ivankiv, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Kyiv, successfully preventing a Russian column of forces from advancing towards the capital.

Read more here:

The grim reality of war hits stunned Ukrainians

5:24 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

UEFA strips St. Petersburg of Champions League final, and moves match to Paris

General view of the Stade de France on June 22, 2016, in Paris, France. (Nolwenn Le Gouic/Icon Sport/Getty Images)

UEFA has moved its flagship soccer match, the Champions League final, from St. Petersburg to Paris, it announced Friday.

The decision to move the game out of Russia was made on Friday morning at an extraordinary meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee, held in response to "the grave escalation of the security situation in Europe."

The game, on May 28, will now take place at the Stade de France, it said.

"UEFA wishes to express its thanks and appreciation to French Republic President Emmanuel Macron for his personal support and commitment to have European club football’s most prestigious game moved to France at a time of unparalleled crisis," UEFA said in a statement.

"Together with the French government, UEFA will fully support multi-stakeholder efforts to ensure the provision of rescue for football players and their families in Ukraine who face dire human suffering, destruction and displacement," it added.

The Russian and Ukrainian national teams will also play home games at neutral venues, the agency said.

Soccer in the spotlight: UEFA has come under pressure to go further in its response, with some calls across Europe to ban Russia from competitions and end its sponsorship deal with Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Wednesday that English teams should boycott May's final -- if they make it -- as a result of Russia's actions.

"If I was on an English team, I would boycott it," Truss told British radio station LBC. "I would personally not want to be playing in a football match in St. Petersburg given what the Putin regime is doing."

4:41 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

Putin wants to "take Ukraine off the map of nations," French foreign minister says

From CNN’s Joseph Ataman and Camille Knight in Paris

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to “take Ukraine off the map of nations,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday.

In response, the minister told radio station France Inter that European sanctions announced in the last 24 hours are designed to “asphyxiate the functioning of Russia, to strangle the functioning of Russia.”

Putin, Le Drian said, “chose a massive offensive -- he has decided to take Ukraine off the map of nations.”

The minister said that French sanctions against Russia that are yet to be announced by President Emmanuel Macron “will be drastic and strong -- that means freezing their means, freezing their check books, that means no longer being able to have economic activities in France.”

Asked why restrictions on Russia’s access to the SWIFT banking system were not included in sanctions so far, Le Drian said, “because we had to go quickly.”

There are no taboos” on sanctions, he added, “There will be other sanctions.”

The minister said that European leaders had received Ukrainian requests for military, financial and humanitarian aid, which he said they were following up on.

“They have requested a whole list of [military] equipment that we are studying,” he said.

Le Drian said that the security of the Ukrainian president is “a central element of what’s going on now,” following comments from Volodymyr Zelensky that Russia was targeting him and his family.

The minister said that “it’s important that [Zelensky] remains in his post” and that France was ready to help “if necessary”.

Today “is not the same thing as the Cold War,” Le Drian said. “Now there’s war at the heart of Europe.”

4:14 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

Ukrainian military says it's resisting Russian advance from north

From CNN's Tim Lister and Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv

Ukraine's military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Friday that the country's army was successfully resisting Russian forces advancing from the north.

Zaluzhnyi said Ukrainian forces had been able to repel the breakthrough of Russian troops in the Chernihiv area north of the capital, Kyiv.

Enemy vehicles were forced to retreat from Chernihiv in the direction of Sedniv and from Horodnya to Semenivka," he said.

However, it appears Russian forces are consolidating their positions to the northwest of Kyiv after taking the airbase at Hostomel on Thursday.

Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defense, Anna Malyar, tweeted Friday about a "possible invasion of the occupiers in Vorzel and surrounding settlements," which is about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Kyiv.

Malyar added that Russian troops had seized two Ukrainian army vehicles, had put on Ukrainian army uniforms and were trying to advance on Kyiv.

3:37 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

In Pictures: Solidarity with Ukraine around the world

Monuments around the world have been lit up in the yellow and blue colors of the Ukrainian flag in solidarity with Ukraine following the beginning of Russia's invasion on Thursday.

In Brussels, the Cinquantenaire Park was illuminated during an emergency European Union summit on the Russia-Ukraine crisis in the Belgian capital on Thursday. Following the meeting, EU leaders unveiled a tranche of sanctions against Russia.

The Colisseum, one of Rome's most recognizable landmarks, was also lit up in Ukrainian colors on Thursday.

(Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/AFP/Getty Images)

Melbourne's Flinders Street Station was lit up in yellow and blue on Friday in a show of support for Ukraine. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called Russia's invasion "brutal" and "unprovoked," on Thursday, while announcing new sanctions against Moscow.

Meanwhile, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra received a long, standing ovation when they played the Czech and Ukrainian anthems before their concert in Prague on Thursday. It is likely that many in the audience lived through the 1968 Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.

3:20 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

UK Defense Secretary: "Our view is that Russia intends to invade the whole of Ukraine"

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite in London

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said Friday that Russia intends to take the whole of Ukraine, but that it has failed to deliver its main objectives.

"It's definitely our view that the Russians intend to invade the whole of Ukraine," Wallace told Sky News Friday.
"Our assessment as of this morning is that Russia has not taken any of its major objectives. In fact, it is behind its hopeful timetable. They've lost over 450 personnel.
"Contrary to great Russian claims, and indeed President (Vladimir) Putin's sort of vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause, he's got that completely wrong. And the Russian army has failed to deliver on day one his main objective."

On her official Twitter account, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss described the Russian invasion as "barbaric."

"Putin’s assault on Ukraine is barbaric, unjustified and shows a callous disregard for human life. We will continue to hold Putin to account and remain steadfast in our support," Truss tweeted, reiterating the United Kingdom's solidarity with Ukraine.

3:02 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

ICC prosecutor could investigate any war crimes or acts of genocide in Ukraine

From CNN's Isaac Yee

The International Criminal Court reminded the world on Friday that it is watching Ukraine, and could investigate any "acts of genocide" and "war crimes" seen there.

“I remind all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine that ... my office may exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014 onwards,” ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan QC said in a statement.

"My office will continue to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine," he added. "In the independent and impartial exercise of its mandate, the Office remains fully committed to the prevention of atrocity crimes and to ensuring that anyone responsible for such crimes is held accountable.”

3:02 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

Micronesia severs diplomatic ties with Russia

From CNN's Lizzy Yee

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) severed its diplomatic ties with Russia on Friday in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The Federated States of Micronesia will not stand aside and will not be silent in levying its profound concern on these unjustifiable acts of aggression,” a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs of FSM said.
“As a result and in protest, the Department wishes to convey to the Embassy of the Russian Federation the decision of the Federated States of Micronesia to sever diplomatic relationship between the two countries,” it said.

2:45 a.m. ET, February 25, 2022

Kyiv's deputy mayor describes trouble accessing subway station bomb shelter

From CNN's Ivana Kottasova in Kyiv

A bomb shelter at the Kyiv metro's Polytechnic Institute station was briefly inaccessible to people on Thursday night, the city’s Deputy Mayor Kostiantyn Usov said in a statement on Facebook.

Usov described being unable to immediately access the station, which has been serving as a safe place for people to congregate.

“I had to knock for about five to seven minutes, loudly enough,” he said.

Across Kyiv, red arrows painted on walls indicate the locations of the nearest bomb shelters. The city first put them up after war broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014, but they were recently repainted. (Ivana Kottasova/CNN)

The deputy mayor said police decided to close the door following a number of incidents. People who knocked and presented their identification documents were allowed to enter.

Usov asked Kyiv’s residents to report any similar incidents.

Kyiv's metro system — which has three lines and more than 50 stations — houses a number of bomb shelters, with red arrows painted on walls throughout the city pointing to the nearest one.