Ukraine Crisis | Capital Kyiv under threat as Russia presses invasion

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops bore down on Ukraine's capital Friday, with gunfire and explosions resonating ever closer to the government quarter, in an invasion of a democratic country that has fuelled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop.

Amid growing casualties from the deadly warfare — including shelling that sliced through the facade of a Kyiv apartment building, bridges and schools — the Kremlin said Russia was ready to talk with Ukrainian officials.

That came even as there were also increasing signs that Vladimir Putin's Russia may be seeking to overthrow Ukraine's government, in his boldest effort yet to redraw the world map and revive Moscow's Cold War-era influence.

The US and other global powers slapped ever-tougher sanctions on Russia as the invasion reverberated through the world's economy and energy supplies, threatening to further squeeze ordinary households. U.N. officials said they were preparing for millions to flee Ukraine. Sporting authorities sought to punish Russia on global playing fields.

And NATO leaders called an urgent meeting to discuss how far they can go to challenge Putin without engaging Russian forces in direct war.

Day 2 of Russia's invasion focused on the Ukrainian capital, where Associated Press reporters heard explosions starting before dawn and gunfire was reported in several areas. Ukrainian authorities used armoured vehicles and snowplows to defend Kyiv and limit movement, and said Russian spies were seeking to infiltrate the city.

Russia's military said it had seized a strategic airport outside Kyiv that allows it to quickly build up forces to take the capital.

It claimed to have already cut the city off from the west — the direction many of those escaping the invasion are heading in, with lines of cars snaking toward the Polish border.

Intense fire broke out on a bridge across the Dneiper River dividing the eastern and western sides of Kyiv, with about 200 Ukrainian forces establishing defensive positions and taking shelter behind their armoured vehicles and later under the bridge.

Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on the Ukrainian side and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures, and it was not possible to verify the tolls.

UN officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes and estimated up to four million could flee if the fighting escalates.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with Russia's government to hold talks, and with Western powers to act faster to cut off Russia's economy and provide Ukraine military help.

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