February 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Russian Federation’s objective in Ukraine is to “secure control of the population and change the regime,” UK Chief of Defense Intelligence, Sir Jim Hockenhull, said Friday in a statement issued by Downing Street. 

The British intelligence official also noted that Russia “continues to conduct strikes across Ukraine” with a “concerted series of strikes” launched on the country’s capital, Kyiv, overnight Thursday into Friday. 

“Multiple Rocket Launchers have been employed in Chernihiv and Kharkiv,” Hockenhull continued. 

“Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to offer strong resistance, focusing on the defence of key cities throughout Ukraine,” he added. 

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Friday downplayed Moscow’s claims that it is willing to engage in diplomatic discussions with Kyiv, saying that diplomacy cannot succeed as Russia attacks Ukraine.

“It is our belief that Moscow has sought to engage in the pretense of diplomacy,” Price said at a State Department briefing.

The US will join the European Union in directly sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, the White House confirmed on Friday.

CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Jeremy Herb reported earlier Friday the US was planning to impose sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin according to two people familiar with the decision.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the decision came following a phone call between President Biden and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Asked what changed between Friday and Thursday, when Biden announced a new round of sanctions that did not include Putin, Psaki said the option had “been under consideration and on the table for some time.” 

“The President's strong view and strong principle from the beginning of this conflict, and even before I should say, has been to take actions and steps in alignment with our European partners, and this is certainly evidence of that,” Psaki said.

The Russian leader will become the highest-profile target in the effort to impose costs on the Russian economy and Putin's inner circle in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Additional Russian officials are likely to be included, one of the people said.

The European Union and United Kingdom also announced they would introduce sanctions targeting Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday. 

More background: The decision to target Putin directly across Western allies marks the most personal escalation of a sweeping effort to respond to Russia's actions through economic penalties. While it's unclear the extent of the direct effect — officials have long said Putin's finances are opaque and difficult to track — the symbolism of targeting the Russian leader is clear.

President Biden said that he and NATO allies discussed “our shared commitment to collective defense and Transatlantic security” when they met virtually Friday afternoon.

“As President Putin threatens the very foundations of international peace and security, NATO is once again demonstrating that it stands for freedom and democracy,” the President said in a statement.

Biden again pledged the US would defend NATO territory.

Immediately after the summit, Biden said he met with Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky and "commended the brave actions of the Ukrainian people who were fighting to defend their country."

"I also conveyed ongoing economic, humanitarian, and security support being provided by the United States as well as our continued efforts to rally other countries to provide similar assistance,” Biden wrote.

In a statement on Friday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) officially ended Russia’s accession process to become a member. The process had already been postponed in 2014, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

The council of OECD also requested that any project funded by Russia be terminated, and released a statement on its website condemning the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Ninety-two members of the Chernobyl power plant operational personnel are being held hostage by Russian forces, Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova said during a press conference in Washington, DC, on Friday.

Because the power plant personnel are being held hostage, they are not able to work in shifts and follow the strict regulations that the power plant requires, she said.

The responsibility of the power plant now “relies on Russian forces and Russian army,” Markarova said. Ukraine is reaching out to all nuclear regulators and other countries to alert them to the situation at Chernobyl, she added.

The White House on Thursday condemned Russia for taking hostage civilian staff of the Chernobyl power facilities in northern Ukraine and demanded their immediate release. 

The Biden administration believes that Russia will threaten to kill the families of Ukrainian soldiers if they do not surrender, a US official said on Friday amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The State Department did not immediately respond when asked why the US believes that this is what the Russians will do. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has recently warned of the possibility of widespread human rights abuses against the Ukrainian people carried out by Russia.

“All evidence suggests that Russia intends to encircle and threaten Kyiv, and we believe Moscow has developed plans to inflict widespread human rights abuses – and potentially worse – on the Ukrainian people,” he said on Thursday. 

Ukraine’s foreign minister echoed US concerns about the possibility of forthcoming human rights abuses on Friday. Citing intelligence, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said there could be Russian false flag operations that would erroneously cast the Ukrainians as the aggressors.

“According to intelligence, Russia plans a massive false flag operation to  ‘dehumanize’ Ukrainians and accuse Ukraine of alleged inhuman actions. Don’t trust fakes. Ukraine defends its land in a just and defensive war. Unlike Russia, we don’t target kindergartens and civilians,” Kuleba tweeted. 

The US official also said the Kremlin is carrying out a disinformation campaign to suggest a large number of Ukrainian troops have already surrendered to Russian forces. 

“We commend the Ukrainian people for showing strength and determination in response to an unprovoked attack by a significantly larger military,” the official said, adding “We are concerned, however, that Russia plans to discourage them and induce surrender through disinformation. Our information indicates Russia is creating a disinformation campaign by publicizing false reports about the widespread surrender of Ukrainian troops.”

On Thursday President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 137 people were killed during the first day of Russia's invasion, but he said that they died a “heroic death” and that they did not surrender. 

The United Nations humanitarian presence will remain in Ukraine and will work to expand and scale up their operations, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)'s Martin Griffiths said Friday. 

Griffiths said that this year alone, the UN and its partners have delivered about 150 tons of assistance to the Donbas region. He noted that UN staff are “bunkered down at the moment,” but said they continue to expand efforts. 

The expansion is accompanied by the establishment of an inter-agency operations center in Geneva, where Griffiths said he will be heading this weekend. He recalled UN Secretary-General António Guterres' Thursday announcement of $20 million in humanitarian aid and said the funds would help support emergency operations along the contact line in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 

He underscored the importance of allowing for safe access to UN workers in the region. 

The UN humanitarian chief also said they are currently facilitating the temporary relocation of nonessential UN staff and eligible family members within Ukraine for the purpose of their security and safety. 

“There are no plans at the moment to relocate our staff outside the country, but we’ll continue, obviously, to evaluate the developing security situation,” Griffiths said.

The Ukrainian Railway Company has on Friday announced a number of special evacuation trains running from Kyiv to the western parts of Ukraine.

The extra trains are departing from Kyiv’s main rail and suburban station.

The company announced the added trains will be for Rakhiv, Uzhhorod, Truskavets, Vorokhta, Kovel, Chernivtsi and Lviv.

Here are some details the company provided about these evacuation trains:

The company has asked those traveling on the special trains to not disclose their locations and not to be surprised if emergency lighting is used. 

“The less the train looks like a garland, the safer the journey,” it added.