Ongoing battles in the capital Kiev

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Battles are raging on in the capital Kiev, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Moscow would attempt to take Kiev before dawn.

Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a "special operation" in Ukraine on Thursday and Western nations announced personal sanctions targeting the Russian President as his soldiers were advancing into Ukraine Friday.

"This night will be more difficult than the day. Many cities of our state are under attack," Zelensky had said. "Special attention on Kiev - we cannot lose the capital," he said in an earlier address.

Zelensky, who earlier called for a stronger response from the West, said he spoke to leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and US President Joe Biden.

"We have agreed on more aid, more support, significant support for our state," he said.

'Point of no return' 

On Friday, the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union imposed further sanctions against Russia, including against President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The penalties against the two were seen by Russia as "a show of the West's complete incompetence in foreign affairs."

"We have reached the line after which the point of no return begins," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Moscow also vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Russia's incursion "in the harshest terms," while China, India, and the United Arab Emirates abstained.

Body on the pavement 

Ukraine's military announced on its verified Facebook page early Saturday that Russia has "invaded the country, and Victory Avenue in Kiev, one of the military units was attacked." An AFP journalist said there were loud explosions heard in central Kiev early on Saturday.

Small arms fire and explosions were heard earlier in the capital's northern district of Obolonsky.

Kiev reported that 137 people, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed.

In two areas between 40 and 80 kilometers north of Kiev, Ukrainian and Russian forces were reportedly fighting. 

"No intention to occupy Ukraine"

Moscow is willing to speak, but only if Ukraine's military forces "laid down their arms," according to Lavrov, who also stated that "nobody intends to occupy Ukraine."

Putin is willing to send a mission to Belarus' capital, Minsk, "for negotiations with a Ukrainian delegation," according to a Kremlin official. The United States, on the other hand, quickly ignored the offer.

"Now we see Moscow suggesting diplomacy take place at the barrel of a gun. This is not real diplomacy," State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said.

The UN said that more than 50,000 Ukrainians had fled the country in the past two days, crossing into Hungary, Poland, and Romania while hundreds camped out in a train station in the Polish border city of Przemysl.

'Harshest' EU sanctions'

Putin and Lavrov were added to the EU's sanctions list on Friday, in what foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described as the "harshest" package the group has ever drafted. The UK authorities quickly followed suit, freezing both men's assets.

The United States and Canada will also impose sanctions on the pair, with Washington including a travel ban.

Despite Zelensky's demand for Western allies to exclude Moscow from the SWIFT banking transfer system, many EU members have remained hesitant, particularly Germany, Hungary, and Italy, for fear of Russian gas supply disruptions.