Europe

KIEV, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday reiterated his call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold talks to stop conflict.

"Fighting is going on all over Ukraine. Let's sit down at the negotiating table," Zelensky was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency as saying.

Putin said Moscow is ready to negotiate with Ukraine at a high level, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency tweeted on Friday.

On Thursday, Putin authorized "a special military operation" in Donbass.

MOSCOW, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry said Friday that the Russian Armed Forces have disabled 118 military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine.

Eleven military airfields, 13 command posts and communication centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 14 S-300 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, and 36 radar stations were among the facilities put out of order, the ministry's Zvezda broadcaster reported, citing Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

BRUSSELS (AP) — With a military intervention in Ukraine off the table, countries around the world looked to heap more financial punishment on Moscow, including the European Union’s approval of an asset freeze on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The EU’s unanimous decision, part of a broader sanctions package, indicated that Western powers are moving toward unprecedented measures to try to force Putin to stop the brutal invasion of Russia’s neighbor and from unleashing a major war in Europe.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Associated Press journalists around Ukraine and beyond are documenting military activity during Russia’s invasion. With disinformation rife and social media amplifying military claims and counter-claims, determining exactly what is happening is difficult. Here’s a look at what could be confirmed Friday.

Activity with direct witnesses:

-- Explosions heard from central Kyiv, about 800 meters (half a mile) from the president’s headquarters.

BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts agreed Friday to reassure member countries on the alliance’s eastern flank by sending parts of the organization’s response force to help protect them following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealing for help, NATO members ranging from Russia’s neighbor Estonia in the north down to Bulgaria on the Black Sea coast triggered urgent consultations about their security. Only Hungary refrained.

GENEVA (AP) — The International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies Friday to cancel or move all events they plan to hold in Russia and Belarus, and stop using the countries’ flags and national anthems.

The request from the Olympic body came after UEFA moved the Champions League final from St. Petersburg to suburban Paris, and after the governing body of skiing and Formula One pulled upcoming races from Russia.

PRZEMYSL, Poland (AP) — Thousands of Ukrainians crossed into neighboring countries to the west in search of safety as Russia pounded their capital and other cities with airstrikes for a second day.

Those arriving were mostly women, children and the elderly after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday banned men of military age from leaving the country.

A woman from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, who arrived in Przemsyl, Poland, broke down in tears describing how men were pulled off trains in Ukraine before they got to the border.

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 fueled fears of wider war in Europe and triggered worldwide efforts to make Russia stop.

25 Feb 2022; MEMO: Russia condemned Israel's settlements in the occupied Golan Heights after Israel slammed Moscow' invasion of Ukraine, Israel Hayom reported yesterday.

According to the paper, Russia said Israel's actions violate the Geneva Convention of 1949.

"Russia does not recognise Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is part of Syria," the Russian statement said.

25 Feb 2022; MEMO: An image of Israel's military assault on Gaza from the May 2021 eleven-day onslaught is being widely shared on social media and western media agencies claiming to show the brutal devastation of a Russian air raid on Ukraine.