Blasts heard in Kyiv as Russian forces close in

The United Nations failed to adopt a U.S.-backed resolution condemning the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine after Russia vetoed the measure. Beijing’s decision to abstain was seen as an achievement for the United States.

The United States plans to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Friday after E.U. foreign ministers agreed to freeze the assets of Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Putin has called on Ukraine’s armed forces to “take power” from Zelensky and a group in Kyiv that the Russian president described as “neo-Nazis.”

Radiation levels at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant site in Ukraine remain in a safe range after Russian forces captured the facility Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

More than 50,000 Ukrainians have fled the country in less than 48 hours, mostly to Poland and Moldova, according to the United Nations’ high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi.