February 25, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

For the first time ever, the NATO Response Force has been activated as a defensive measure in response to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Tod Wolters activated the multinational force consisting of land, air, sea and special operations forces from the allies that can deploy quickly in support of the NATO alliance.

The activation of the response troops does not mean that any US or NATO troops will go into Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance. US President Joe Biden has been clear that US troops are deploying to eastern Europe to help bolster NATO countries nervous about Russia's aggressive actions, and they will not be fighting in Ukraine.

Wolters called it a "historic moment" in his statement.

The force has not yet deployed but are on standby.

CNN reported early Friday that air raid sirens have been going off in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, which is less than 50 miles from the border of Poland, a NATO member.

The United States announced Thursday that 7,000 US troops will be deployed to Europe. President Biden said he’d authorized “the deployment of ground and air forces already stationed in Europe,” to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. He also said he’d authorized “additional US force capabilities” be sent to Germany as part of NATO’s response, including some forces that had been placed on standby several weeks ago.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reiterated the importance of respecting Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic adviser on Friday, according to a statement from the Élysée Palace.

“[Wang] welcomed France's action in favor of dialogue between Ukraine and Russia,” according to the statement. 

Emmanuel Bonne, Macron’s diplomatic adviser, told Wang that it was Russia that decided to launch an invasion despite France’s efforts to avoid war. Bonne reiterated that Russia should stop its military operations immediately, according to the statement.

Wang called for easing of tensions and to “put an end to civilian casualties by resuming negotiations.” 

Earlier, China continued to refrain from acknowledging Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, dodging more than 30 questions in its Ministry of Foreign Affairs daily briefing on Friday about Russia's aggression and the current situation in Ukraine. 

"All countries’ sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected” and “the purposes and principles of the UN Charter should be jointly upheld," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin repeatedly responded to reporters, sticking closely to statements made from China in previous days.

Wang also reiterated that China “understands Russia's legitimate concerns on security issues,” and echoed calls for parties to “exercise restraint and avoid further escalation of the situation.”

CNN's Beijing bureau contributed to this post.

As the situation continues to unfold in Ukraine and Russian troops advance on the capital, Kyiv, Russia President Vladimir Putin called on Ukraine's armed forces to overthrow their government in remarks to his security council Friday.

"Do not let Banderites [Ukrainian nationalists] and neo-Nazis use your children, wives and old people as human shields," Putin said in remarks aired on Russian state television.

He went on to urge Ukraine's armed forces to "take power into your own hands."

Putin frequently repeats the baseless and inaccurate claim that the democratically elected Ukrainian government is a "Nazi" or "fascist" regime. The language has been roundly condemned internationally, especially considering that President Volodymyr Zelensky is Jewish.

Asked by CNN at a news conference Friday what Moscow's plans were for the leadership of Ukraine as Russian forces advance on Kyiv, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov replied, "Nobody is going to attack the people of Ukraine."

Where things stand: For now, Ukraine's democratically elected government remains intact but Zelensky warned in a video address late Thursday that "enemy sabotage groups" had entered this city and he is their No. 1 target. "They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state," he said.

In an address Friday morning, Zelensky said Ukrainians were "showing their true heroism" but that they were defending their country "alone." The sanctions imposed on Russia by Western powers are "not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil," he said.

CNN's Matthew Chance, Tim Lister and Laura Smith-Spark also contributed reporting to this post.

The Russian Central Bank is increasing the supply of bills to ATMs after demand for cash increased in recent days. 

“All customer funds on bank accounts are fully preserved and available for any transactions,” the statement added.

On Thursday, Russian state news agency TASS reported that several banks had seen an increase in withdrawals – notably of foreign currency — following the Kremlin’s decision to invade Ukraine. 

The Russian stock market suffered massive losses and the country’s currency, the ruble, devaluated significantly after markets started reacting to news of the invasion. The markets have since recovered slightly.

NATO said that it is making “significant additional defensive deployments of forces” to the eastern part of the alliance, noting that while “deterrence and defense” measures are being deployed, NATO’s actions remain “preventive, proportionate and non-escalatory.”

“We have deployed defensive land and air forces in the eastern part of the Alliance, and maritime assets across the NATO area,” according to a statement released Friday.

The joint statement comes after a rare virtual summit of NATO Heads of State and Government on Friday, where members met to discuss what NATO has described as the “gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades.”

“We will continue to take all measures and decisions required to ensure the security and defense of all Allies,” the statement read, adding “we stand united to protect and defend all Allies. Freedom will always win over oppression." 

The joint statement also outlined that NATO reaffirms its “unwavering support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine, and will continue to provide “political and practice support” to the Ukrainian government. 

The Russian government moved to restrict Facebook's access to the country on Friday after Russia's ministry of communications accused the social network of unlawful censorship.

In a statement, ministry officials said Facebook had committed human rights violations and "violated the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens" when the social network on Thursday allegedly clamped down on several Russian media outlets on its platform.

The list allegedly includes the official Facebook accounts of RIA Novosti, Zvezda TV, Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru, according to the statement.

CNN could not immediately verify the allegations. Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Russian statement said Facebook had violated Federal Law No. 272-FZ, a law that it said governs human rights and the rights of Russian citizens. 

"In accordance with the decision of the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the social network Facebook, starting from February 25, 2022, Roskomnadzor, in accordance with the law, takes measures to partially restrict access," the statement read.

The extent of the restrictions was not immediately clear, nor their impact on Facebook's operations in Russia or that of Facebook's parent, Meta. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov gave more details Friday about a proposal floated earlier in the day for sending representatives to the Belarusian capital of Minsk to talk with Kyiv, claiming the Ukrainian side had countered with a proposal to meet in Warsaw and then dropped contact. 

"Putin immediately phoned President (Alexander) Lukashenko and agreed that the Belarusian side and the president would do everything to best organize the arrival of delegations and ensure their safety — this element is also important now — and the conditions for conducting these negotiations directly," Peskov said in a phone call with reporters.

Peskov added: "After a short pause, the Ukrainians said that the Ukrainians wanted to go to Warsaw. And after that they took a pause and left the connection." 

Prior to Peskov's comments, Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych told CNN Friday that the Ukrainian government is “considering the proposal.” 

The Kremlin spokesperson claimed that the pause was accompanied by the deployment of multiple launch rocket systems in residential areas, including in Kyiv by "nationalist elements," something Peskov said the Kremlin considered "extremely dangerous."

More context: Peskov's statement echoed a claim made earlier in the day by the Russian military, which said — without evidence — US military and intelligence advisers have instructed Ukrainian military leaders to place rocket artillery systems in residential areas to provoke return fire on local residents. 

The US has observed at least 200 total missile launches since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a senior US defense official told reporters Friday, adding that “some of these missiles we have assessed have impacted civilian residential areas.”

A Ukrainian man who lives in Poland said he will go back to fight for his country if the situation deteriorates.

Ukraine has banned all male citizens ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country, according to the State Border Guard Service.

Trains from Kyiv are delayed because there are delays with the IT systems, according to Polish authorities, McLean reported.

Cases of water and food are at the train station in anticipation of the refugees.

Ukrainian citizens Yaryna Arieva and Sviatoslav Fursin got married just hours after Russia launched its invasion of their country. They spent their first day as a married couple collecting their rifles and getting ready to defend Ukraine.

It was supposed to be a May wedding, but the couple were no longer sure of what their future holds.

Arieva and Fursin have both signed up with the Territorial Defense Forces, a branch of Ukraine’s armed forces that is comprised mostly of volunteers. Once armed, the couple headed to the office of their political party, the European Solidarity.

“Right now, we are here and we are doing everything we can. So there is a lot of work to do, but still, I hope everything will be OK," Arieva said, adding that some civilians who are not part of the defense force were also given rifles.