Kyiv, Feb. 26: Invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital Friday, in an apparent encircling movement after a barrage of airstrikes on cities and military bases around the country. With growing signs that Russia aims to overthrow him, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told European Union leaders in a video link-up from his bunker late Thursday that it might be the last time they saw him alive.

Meanwhile, Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution demanding that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops, a defeat the United States and its supporters knew was inevitable but said would highlight Russia’s global isolation. The vote on Friday was 11 in favour, with Russia voting no and China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian military to end resistance and turn on their leaders. Speaking at Friday’s Security Council meeting, Putin claimed that most Ukrainian military units are reluctant to engage with the Russian forces. He said the units offering resistance are mostly volunteer battalions made up of right-wing Ukrainian nationalists. However, he did not offer any evidence to support his claims.

With a military intervention in Ukraine off the table, and countries around the world looking to heap more financial punishment on Moscow, the United States, Britain and European Union said they will move to sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The Russian assault on Ukraine, anticipated for weeks by the West, amounts to Europe's largest ground conflict since World War II as Putin tries to restore Moscow's Cold War influence. It is unclear how much or little Russian forces have seized or the extent of the casualties.-Agencies