Sanctions agianst Putin shows West's 'impotency', says Russia

Amid heavy fighting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky released a self-shot video from central Kyiv vowing alongside key aides to stay and defend the capital against the Russian invasion.Ukrainian capital Kyiv is under attack, According to latest reports, Russian soldiers in large numbers have landed in Vasylkiv city, some 40 kilometres south of Kyiv. Ukrainian forces are fighting them. Videos and images on social media shows heavy blasts taking place in and around Kyiv.

More video from Kyiv, where heavy fighting is happening now - NEXTA pic.twitter.com/NTaLekLlGj

— BNO News (@BNONews) February 26, 2022

Meanwhile, in a televised address from Moscow, Putin branded Zelensky's government "terrorists" and "a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis", urging the Ukrainian military to mutiny. According to reports, Russian saboteurs disguised as the National Police drove up to a checkpoint near Vasylkiv and shot Ukrainian soldiers there. A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said Friday Western sanctions against the country's president and top diplomat over its invasion of Ukraine showed Western "impotency" and warned relations were nearing a "point of no return." In a bristling speech on Russian television, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the decision by the United States and European nations to slap sanctions on President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were "a demonstration of the complete impotency of the foreign policy" of the West.She also warned that Russia's relations with the West were nearing a dangerous point.

In the latest move to step up pressure on Russia over Ukraine, the Joe Biden-led US administration has said that it's adding more punitive measures - to the sanctions on the Kremlin - by directly targeting Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the step was taken in coordination with its allies of the European Union and Britain. This came a day after the EU had announced similar steps against Putin and his top officials. For Joe Biden, the Ukraine war is one of the toughest challenges in his presidential term with Russia trying to strengthen its geopolitical position.