this is cnn breaking news. hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i'm michael holmes coming to you live from lviv, ukraine. volodymyr zelenskyy is pleading for help. air raid sirens have been sounding consistently following explosions in the capitol as ukraine and the u.s. say russian forces plan to encircle the city and go after the government. the ukrainian official says this video shows a russian missile

being shot out of the sky by an ariel defense system. the defense ministry says ukrainian troops have blown up a key bridge north of kyiv and are resisting russia's advance from the north. one of the fighter jets has been shot down over kyiv but it claims it has inflicted more than 800 casualties on russian forces since the invasion began. other images show an apartment block on fire in kyiv. the mayor says three people were hurt, one seriously when a rocket hit the building. russian forces have been pounding air fields and military bases across ukraine. british intelligence reports at least 80 strikes since the fighting began. a u.s. source says russia has launched more than 160 missiles. reporting at least 137 soldiers have been killed since the invasion began and in his latest social media address he urged ukraine's allies to do more.

>> translator: this morning we are defending our country alone just like yesterday, the most powerful country in the world looked on from a distance. russia was hit with sanctions but these are not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil. only through solidarity can this be achieved. >> russian forces are said to have taken control of the chernobyl nuclear plant in northern ukraine. staff members are being held hostage. meanwhile, u.s. president joe biden unveiling sweeping sanctions although he admits it will be some time before moscow feels the effects. he's considering direct sanctions on vladimir putin. >> putin is the aggressor. putin chose this war and now he and his country will bear the

consequences. >> cnn's peggy bolo lilli is is live. we have the white house reporter in washington. these sanctions, how much impact will they have in what difference will they make in the end? >> they will have an effect on russia's economy. they are unprecedented for a country of russia's size but the real question is what effect they'll have on vladimir putin. they don't seem to have had an effect so far. these are sanctions he was considering for weeks and this did not deter president putin from going forward. what president biden said is once these sanctions take effect, that could affect president putin's thinking but he also said that they would take time. of course, what you're seeing on the ground today in kyiv indicates that there really is not a lot of time to prevent what is happening there. that's part of why you see

president zelenskyy calling on western nations, in particular the united states, to do more. now what was in these package of sanctions? the president froze assets of some of russia's largest banks. he put limits on debt and equity across a range of sectors. he put new sanctions on business men who are close to the kremlin and vladimir putin and their family members. the center piece of this package of sanctions were the export controls, limiting types of technology that can be exported to russia that will have a real dampening effect on russia and the aerospace sectors. the president didn't include putin himself and he didn't include removing russia from the s.w.i.f.t. banking messaging system. that had been something considered of a nuclear option for these sanctions, it had the potential to shrink russia's economy by 5%.

the president said both of those things remain on the table. the president was frank. he said that you could not get europe on board with the s.w.i.f.t. messaging system in particular. of course, a lot of european countries have a lot of ties to russia and earlier this morning the u.k. defense minister said the united kingdom was in favor of removing russia from the s.w.i.f.t. system. he will work with allies on that. you should note today nato is hosting crisis talks, leader talks. president biden will be participating virtually from the white house situation room. clearly a lot of situation still ongoing as the crisis unfolds. >> kevin liptak, appreciate you. jim bidder man, let's go to you in paris. the french president, emmanuel ma macron, positioning himself as a

mediator for a potential cease-fire agreement. what is he saying? >> reporter: absolutely. he revealed last night at the european council, sort of revealed their sanctions. macron revealed he had been in full contact with vladimir putin and he called at the request of volodymyr zelenskyy. he called putin to demand an immediate cease-fire. he said obviously that didn't have much effect, but in fact he is trying to play the role of mediator. this is how he explained it to the journalists. >> translator: i this is it is my responsibility, first of all, to take such initiatives when they're requested by ukraine and then while condemning all sanctions, while continuing to decide and act to leave this

path open so that the day when the conditions can be met we can obtain a secession of hostilities for the ukrainian people. >> reporter: he said that, in fact, he felt -- emmanuel macron felt he was complicit because he has been talking about how to get things -- how to settle things in donbas before he was invading -- while he was making plans to invade. he felt that putin had been complicit but he had to try to offer assistance. kevin said about s.w.i.f.t., the international global payments clearance system, bruno lamare was on the radio, the french finance minister, he said we want to financially isolate russia. we want to cut off all ties

between russia and the international finance system. on the question of s.w.i.f.t., this is the last resort. this is one of the last items that remains on the table echoing president biden last night. >> katie, what are officials at the pentagon watching tonight? >> reporter: concern here tonight thatere is a cloud hangg over the capitol of kyiv. they were briefed being told that russian forces that had moved into ukraine had moved into 20 kilometers of the russian capitol. they continue to hold a key airport that could be used to ear drop in special operations 23 forces to gain control of the capitol. antony blinken said he believes

the russians plan to encircle kyiv. for this point the defense and intelligence officials say it's pretty apparent they plan to encircle kyiv and there are plans to have a proxy government, pro-moscow friendly government in place and ready to go. >> all right. katie bo lillis, thank you. appreciate that. joining me from london is the manager of the ukraine forum and the russian and eurasia program at chatham house. you tweeted that russia attacked ukraine not because it has security concerns but because it has territorial claims on ukraine. that seems clear now, but how far do you think putin will go in a territorial sense? take it all?

>> well, michael, millions of people around the world and officials are watching the encirclement of almost 3 million number of population city in the heart of europe. this is what we are talking about. putin is after establishing his political control over this country and whatever assistance there will be he's determined he will fight with brutal force. so this is what we are after. i think we all have to be very clear what is the cost and risks of not providing better assistance to ukraine in the next one to two days. if the capitol falls, it will have a massive consequences for all of us. >> what sort of assistance are you talking about in the next one to two days? >> well, we've convened a task force yesterday in chatham house

and will be releasing some of those recommendations. we are looking at on one hand supporting ukraine and the military capability. ukraine needs us, as we've seen this, mobile paratroopers. ukrainians need to have equipment to counter that. mobile artillery fire. there is also support that is needed very much with finance, setting up a special fund for ukraine to rapidly procure military assistance similar to what roosevelt did for the united kingdom during the second world war. there's much more needed in terms of sanctions. central bank and russia to be sanctioned. and of course this would be more power full than s.w.i.f.t. ukrainians need to see today and tomorrow that the world is with them. >> do you think it is inevitable now that the government of volodymyr zelenskyy will be overthrown and a kremlin-friendly government

installed in ukraine? it's hard to see that not happening at the moment, isn't it? >> i would like to say that nothing is inevitable until it happens. we do see ukrainian military and armed forces with resistance. kyiv will not be given to the enemy without a fight. whatever part of the city they will be able to take. remember, it's a big city with a complex geography. it will not be very easy and i would even call the government, military regime that will be installed to clearly be called russian occupation. not any kind of kyiv proxy regime because the only legitimate government in u complain is headed by president zelenskyy and president zelenskyy is in the capitol. >> now you also say that

vladimir putin, quote, orchestrated a show, basically duped the west into what you call pointless diplomatic talks. how should the west have dealt with that, avoided being played in that regard? >> well, i think it was very difficult for the west not to par make it that charade because the west wanted to demonstrate goodwill. i think the questions we should be asking ourselves now, what should have been done and what should be done today to protect countries like ukraine, like moldova, like georgia that are on russian territory and that have a european desperation. this is the key question now. we have to understand that be just engaging with diplomacy or inflicting sanctions is not enough. we need our countries to be strong, be able to resist russia and stop putin like he has to be

stopped on russian borders. >> should these other states, should they be worried they might be next at some point if not in the short term, the long snerm. >> michael, this is exactly what it is. i'm saying the costs for ukraine mean that shield that it is holding right now, a massive move for the russian force will come much closer to the others. i am sure the balantic states, see the agenda in the security ultimatums where he was clearly pointing to the worst so far 2459 italians set up. this is where russia believes it is entitled. in a way eastern europe is in

all of this together. that's why we see much more solidarity and poland. the u.k., canada, sweden, they all have to stand with ukraine together to defend the capitol city of kyiv. >> important analysis. always good to speak with you. thanks so much. >> thank you. now we have this report just in to cnn. ukraine's defense ministry is reporting clashes close to the city center in kyiv. it says russian reconnaissance troops have entered a northern district of the capitol and it's asking citizens to, quote, make molotov cocktails and take down the occupiers. that's a quote, obviously a significant development here. video from the area does show chaotic scenes, civilians trying to flee from small arms fire.

a major development if those forces have entered the city center. quick break. not everyone in russia on board with this invasion. some going to jail after protesting on the streets of moscow. and before we go to break, we want to bring you more reaction from ukraine. we've talked to residents in lviv to give you their thoughts on this invasion. have a listen. >> i feel angry. i tonight feel helpless but i feel angry and i feel like we need an international support, strong support. today my president, president zelenskyy, said that he encourages other countries to join an anti-kremlin, anti-russianan group and i also would like to support this c ca. ♪ don't play around wiwith cold ad flu symptoms.

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all right. you can't hear it now, but for the last few minutes air raid sirens have been going off over the ukrainian capitol kyiv. this happens routinely. it happened here in lviv earlier

today, a few hours ago, and an announcement along with that here in lviv telling people to gather their documents, turn off the stove and the gas and the electricity and check on the elderly and head for cover. again, this is a pretty routine and regular event around the country and major cities. there has been a new report in in just the last few minutes. i want to bring you up to date on that because it's potentially very significant. ukraine's defense ministry reporting clashes close to the city center in kyiv. now it's saying that russian reconnaissance troops have entered a northern district of the capitol. it is asking citizens to, quote, make molotov cocktails and take down the occupier. video does show chaotic scenes, civilians trying to flee from small arms fire. we're working to get those pictures out, bring you more information as we get it. if russian forces have, indeed,

entered the capitol's perimeter, enormously significant. let's bring you up to date on the rest of the breaking news. ukraine's defense ministry reporting clashes, as we said, close to the city center, indeed in the city now. it says russian reconnaissance troops entered that northern district of the capitol and, again, asking citizens to make molotov cocktails and, quote, take down the occupier. this comes as ukraine's ministry says one of the fighter jets was shot down. the su 27 fighter jet was shot down early on friday over the capitol. photos tweeted by the ukrainian forces appearing to show a fire at a 2-story private home after fragments fell on it. those are the remnants of that precise jet, however. boris johnson assuring volodymyr zelenskyy that the world is, quote, united in its horror at

russia's actions. according to downing street mr. johnson spoke with his ukrainian counterpart to, quote, express his solidarity with ukraine. this coming as russia decided to ban u.k. flights in its air space in retaliation for a similar move to brittain. president vladimir putin of course enjoys overwhelming support in his homeland in russia but not everyone in russia on board with this invasion. according to independent media, more than 1700 people have been detained in anti-war prot protestsing. >> it hurts, it's our friends and relatives. >> i'm discouraged.

i don't approve of our government. >> last hour i spoke with the director of the oeurasia area. here's part of what he said as he was leaving with his family. >> i'm currently driving towards the west of ukraine, about an hour and a half of kyiv. i'm hoping to get this over with quickly so i can return. the president called on all to help. we are hearing there's fighting, heavy fighting going on in one of the districts adjacent to the

center of kyiv. >> just to confirm, you're going to be dropping the family off to safety and going back to, kyiv, what, to fight? >> what else is there to do? you know, putin let us know in no uncertain terms this is the issue of whether ukraine will survive. that's the name of the game at this point. >> kudos to you. i see you in this analyst role and now i'm hearing you're dropping the family off, fearing for their safety and about to go back and defend your country. let's talk a little bit about the analysis side of things. i read where you pointed out that people in ukraine, they are used to war over the last eight years, we know that, but most aren't used to it on their doorstep.

europe, the example of that. how do you see the population responding and reacting? >> obviously it's a state of shock. people are shell shocked. they are in some cases literally shell shocked. people are walking their dogs in the early morning in fear. there's no ban but people are dazed and confused walking down the road, trying to flag down cars with very little success. some roads leading to kyiv blocked. pretty much jam packed, moving at about less than 8 kilometers an hour. >> i've spoken to peter a number of times. put yourself in his position. he is a political analyst. he is an expert on ukrainian

politics and there he is driving on a road with his family to get out of the capitol, to drop his family off and go back, pick up a wen upon and defend his country. just think about that. ukraine has been enduring explosions and air raid sirens as russian forces try to push deeper into the country. i'll be back to update all the latest developments for you in just a moment. with age comes more... get more with neutrogena® retinol pro plus. a powerful .05% retinol that's also gentle on skskin. for wrinkles results in one w week. neutrogena®. for people with skin..

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welcome back, everyone. i'm michael holmes coming to you

live from ukraine where the defense ministry just issued a chilling statement. clashes have erupted close to the center of kyiv and russian reconnaissance troops have entered that northern part of the capitol. a specific district. the ministry has tweeted out that civilians should, quote, make molotov cocktails and take down the occupier. a few hours ago ukraine's military said it was resisting an advance from the north and blew up a bridge, in fact, to keep russian forces at bay or at least slow them down. now the british prime minister says he's told ukraine's president the world is united in its horror over the invasion but volodymyr zelenskyy not for the first time has accused western allies of just not doing enough. saying, quote, we are defending our country alone. we are getting new images showing the aftermask of shelling in the luhansk area. this is inside one of those

regions that russia recognized as independent ahead of this invasion of the whole country. and just minutes ago, air raid sirens blaring again in kyiv. we've been hearing them here in lviv as well earlier today and these are live pictures of the ukrainian capitol as we continue to monitor developing events on this possible incursion of russian reconnaissance troops entering one district of the capitol. obviously an important development if true. now all across the country many ukrainians inevitably understandably terrified. some families have been crowding into subway stations and bomb shelters along with young children trying to explain with them what is going on and making a sense of how things have been turned upside down. e.u. leaders imposing their hare muchest ever sanctions.

>> putin is trying to subjugate the frenzied european country and he's trying to redraw the maps of europe by force. he must and he will fail. >> cnn's international security editor nick paton walsh joins us from ukraine. there was fighting earlier, what's the latest there? >> reporter: judging by the sound of sirens i'm hearing behind me, things may have picked up again. there was significant fighting yesterday described as the most serious in ukraine by president volodymyr zelenskyy. down at the bridge, it is a key part of the infrastructure that takes you from the path by crimea, the peninsula up towards mainland broader ukraine through the donepa river that cuts the country essentially in two. going across that river a key task for russian forces.

they seemed to have some success yesterday getting across the bridge but then were pushed back. we've seen that ourselves. been an intense fight down there. bodies still lying in the road, houses taken down -- sorry, buildings taken down. overnight we heard consistent low flying jets over the city causing people to be terrified. the hotel we're in, the owner going room to room, putting out the lights and putting her kids into safety. it is possibly happening again down there. we simply don't know whether russia feels it has to take this town as part of its moves north. there are suggesting it might choose to go west towards odessa or east towards separatist territories but it is extraordinary to see the breadth from odessa, southwest, all the way above crimea. and civilians caught in their daily lives in the middle. on that very bridge where the battle was very intense. petro station destroyed.

multiple ukrainian vehicles being left by the side of the road. to see civilians driving back and forth on that large bridge, past blown out trucks, past the corpse of a soldier and going past russian troops that have hidden their positions but are staying there, waiting it seems, for another moment to perhaps try and take the vital bridge again, michael. >> yeah. visceral images painted there by you, nick. i wanted to ask you about another incident that happened, this eiland, snake island, where ukrainian forces utterly defiant in the face of russian aggression. >> reporter: yeah, look, it's a very dark episode. you may have encountered some of the sirens we heard.

this snake island is off to the south of that. approached by a russian boat. we can play you audio but essentially it shows a radio exchange between russian military who say you need to surrender. you need to give yourself up or we will open fire and then the response, pretty profane for me to repeat here from the ukrainian soldier, the sole occupants of the tiny weather beaten island saying no in different language and then radio silence. we understand everybody on that island died according to ukrainian president zelenskyy. courage but a sign of the ruthlessness of russian forces as they move forward to surround ukraine. >> yeah. that recording we will play it later on in our coverage, but it wasn't just no, expletive no to the russians. even according to ukrainians

now, they are all dead. nick paton walsh, thank you for your reporting. we'll be back to you in the hours ahead. earlier with the ukrainian lawmaker, i asked her how she is feeling as russian forces are invading her country. have a listen to this. >> we need help. we need help from all departments we have, from all those countries that call themselves our partners. political statements are great. we are thankful for those as ever but we need protections. we need sanctions in place. we need more weapons inside of ukraine and at the end of the day we need a closure of our air space and that can only be done with the help or whatever. people here on the ground countering russian attacks. >> sadly none of that seems

particularly likely. when you talked about the surreal nature to this, i think back to vladimir putin when he spoke, he spoke of close cultural, familial ties between russia and ukraine, and yet of course an invasion like the one underway could cost thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people in ukraine related to people of russia. that must just boggle your mind. >> as we speak looking out my window and there's like -- there's planes flying in towards me. i am on the outskirts of kyiv right now. i'm sorry. yeah. sorry for that. so -- because every time we get this, every single time like that. i'm on the outskirts of kyiv and just as we spoke there were several planes flying in the

direction of the city and we know from several minutes ago, that airstrikes are to begin right about now. hopefully our anti-airstrike system is going to be able to with stabbed that, but as we speak, and this is what i say, we are all exhausted from this. we have helicopters, airplanes, fighter jets flying all around all the time and every time you hear a noise, looking out of the window, where is it going? is it going to hit or is it going to miss? >> reporter: i can't imagine how unsettling, how terrifying this is for you and everyone in kyiv as well. what is your greatest fear about what's going to happen? clearly putin wants to overthrow the government at a very minimum, but if his troops and tanks come into the city, it could become a very bloody

situation. >> let's hope that doesn't happen. i have faith in the ukrainian army and in the ukrainian people and huge lines are coming in to sign up. people here are brave and are not up to actually giving up their country. we do not want to live under somebody's rule, whoever it is. we are free people. we have our freedom. our men and women have died, in the recent years and in the decades and centuries before that. >> unbelievable, isn't it? that will do it here from lviv. let's send it back to isa soares. just incredible what's been unfolding here over the last 24 hours. so hard to hear, particularly, isa, peter zelmayev.

i've spoken to him several times. i see him driving west to dump his family off, he's going to turn around, drive back to kyiv and pick up a gun. >> incredibly terrifying. i can't imagine what these families are going through, michael. how do you explain this to your children? how do you explain what is unfolding. we'll touch base back with you, michael. as russia opens a military front in ukraine, it's facing pushbacks. why this will mean losses for russian business. ananna stewart is next. that's also gentlele on skin. for wrinkles results in one week. neutrogena®. for people witith skin.

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i'm isa soares in london and we continue our coverage of the russian invasion of ukraine. let's have a look at how markets are reacting to russia's military action and the new round of sanctions on russia.

europe first. major indices are currently up slightly as you can see there. less than two hours in the trading session and the ftse 100 just over 1.3 of a percent. clawing back the dramatic losses we saw on thursday. investors probably not surprised by the sanctions. i'll talk about that in a minute with anna. u.s. futures, very different future on wall street. lingering in the negative territory. red arrows right across the board. in russia, meanwhile, the bench mark index has recovered some. the index closed down 33%. the moscow stock exchange has canceled today's morning session. as the kremlin unleashes its military might, russia is coming under a barrage of international economic sanctions. on thursday the e.u. slapped a new round of sanctions. they will have, quote, a maximum impact on russia's economy and

political elite. president joebtd announced a package of u.s. sanctions. it goes after russian banks, oligarchs and the military. it announces the strongest from other air kbras announcing new measures. anna stewart, we heard president biden talk about maximizing the long term effects. does this go far enough? let me ask you differently, what's not on the table? >> yes, banks. companies, oligarchs. incredible export restrictions. what's not here is exports -- is, sorry, sanctions on oil and gas companies, on wheat.

russia can essentially still sell those products where it gets most of its revenue from and you can see why, because the west is so relienlt on them and also s.w.i.f.t. we've talked a lot about s.w.i.f.t., that was not on the table. >> why is the s.w.i.f.t. needs to be on 9 table. the brits and french saying lik likewise. where it comes from. >> this was so interesting. always been on the short end of the spectrum. this is the global financial system that underpins financial aspects. europe is key when it comes to disconnecting s.w.i.f.t. and russia. europe is problematic. here is president joe biden. >> it's always an option but right now that's not the

position the rest of europe wishes to take. >> senior e.u. sources told us they have been reporting estonia, latvia, lithuania. on the other side of the e.u. you have germany, italy, cypress. they have stronger economic ties with russia. we had the u.k.'s defense minister saying they would like to go further. they would like to go with the s.w.i.f.t. option. >> very quickly, if there's not s.w.i.f.t., what else does the west have to try to deter? >> there's always sanctions on gas, on oil, on those companies. there is s.w.i.f.t. and to take out president putin himself and target sanctions. that's symbolic. i'm not sure if there's anything to change sanctions. >> i'll be right back after a very short break.

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and where they came from. ohhh...cool. this whole journey has been such a huge gift for our family. all right. let's quickly bring you up to date on the breaking news we are following. ukraine's defense ministry reporting clashes close to the

city center in kyiv. it says russian reconnaissance troops have ended the northern district of the capitol and it's asking citizens to, quote, get this, make molotov cocktails and take down the occupier. it comes as ukraine's interior ministry says one of its fighter jets has been shot down over kyiv and as air raid sirens have, again, been going off around the capitol. now residents in kharkiv, ukraine, have turned a subway system into a make shift bomb shelter. clarissa ward was there speaking with frightened but determined ukrainians seeking safety. >> reporter: kharkiv residents scrambled to find shelter as russia's brutal assault unfolds. deep underground, scenes reminiscent of the second world war. the shock just sinking in that what was unimaginable is now reality.

36-year-old daria tells us -- >> you wake up and you realize it's 5 a.m. and you find out that the world is no longer the safe place from earlier. we independent country, ukraine. we don't want to be a part of russia or any other country. >> i can't believe it's happening, really. >> reporter: yesterday this was just an ordinary metro station full of people going to and from work. today it has become a de facto bomb shelter and there are just hundreds and hundreds of people who have descended on this place fearful for their lives and uncertain of what the future will bring. the thing you hear over and over again from people is where can we go? where is it safe now to go in ukraine? and i want to be clear about something, this is not a front line city in ukraine.

this is a thriving country of 1.4 million people who have never experienced anything like this in their entire lives and now they're being forced to literally camp out with their families, their pets, their loved ones. they grabbed whatever they could from their homes and they brought it here and they don't know what's next for them. they don't know what the new ukraine will look like and what place three have. >> many we approach are too overcome to speak. i'm asking if they're afraid. they're very nervous. look at the situation around you, this woman says. >> i'm so sorry. terrible, terrible situation. there's no doubt here about who is responsible for this conflict, but few can understand

w why. >> it's interesting. i just asked them, what do they think of president putin. do they think he's crazy? they say, he's not crazy, he's sick. he's sick. we just want to live peacefully. >> some people in russia -- >> reporter: a simple plea for mercy has so far fallen on deaf ears. >> reporter: powerful reporting there from clarissa ward. if you would like to help ukraine with humanitarian aid or some other sort of assistance, go across the cnn.com/impact. you'll find plenty of resources there. i'm michael holmes live in lviv, ukraine. we will continue on "new day" with john berman and brianna

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this is cnn breaking news. good morning to our viewers here in the united states, all around the world. it is friday, february 25th. i'm john berman with brianna keilar and the breaking news. ukrainian capitol kyiv is under siege with major developments within just the last few minutes. moments ago the ukrainian defense ministry says russian reconnaissance troops entered the oman district just a few miles from the city center. they tweeted out