- Russian troops have entered the Ukrainian capital Kyiv from the north, advancing to the city’s Obolon district. Despite rumors he had fled, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a video from the city’s government district, saying, “We are here. We are in Kyiv. We are defending Ukraine.” [Axios / Dave Lawler and Zachary Basu]
- Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has advocated that the Ukrainian military stage a coup and negotiate with him. “Take power into your own hands,” he said to the soldiers, explaining, “It looks like it will be easier for us to come to an agreement with you than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who lodged themselves in Kyiv and took the entire Ukrainian people hostage.” [NYT / Anton Troianovski]
- Putin also floated the idea of engaging in talks with Ukraine hosted in Minsk, Belarus. Those negotiations would be predicated on Ukraine “demilitarizing” and agreeing to a nonaligned status, giving up its European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization ambitions. [Reuters]
- Meanwhile, Putin has shored up support from a few strongmen. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad approved of Putin’s invasion, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said his country was with Putin, and Belarus has provided military assistance; but other leaders, like Jair Bolsonaro, who have supported Putin in the past, have remained silent after the invasion. [Washington Post / Terrence McCoy and Chico Harlan]
- Meanwhile, European leaders, as well as those in Britain and the US, have issued a new round of sanctions against Russia, including against Putin. The EU, Britain, and the US have agreed as of Friday to freeze the foreign assets of Putin and his foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov. [AP / Raf Casert and Aamer Madhani]
- And thousands of Russians throughout the country have risked arrest or worse protesting Putin’s invasion, in cities including Moscow and St. Petersburg. More than 1,800 had been arrested as of Thursday night, and several high-profile Russians risked their livelihoods by speaking out against the war. [Guardian / Andrew Roth]