LIVE: UN overwhelmingly votes to condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine, demands withdrawal
Live Updates
Videos on social media are showing what appears to be Russian armoured vehicles entering Obolon, an area just north of Kyiv's city centre.
Ukraine's defence ministry has also confirmed that Russian forces had infiltrated the residential district.
The Egyptian Hotel Association has directed all hotels in the country to continue to accommodate stranded Ukrainian and Russian tourists, who are unable to leave due to the current developments in Ukraine.
Tourists from Russia and Ukraine make up the bulk of visitors to the Arab country, traditionally constituting almost a third of the 12 million tourists who visited in peak years.
Between 300,000 and 500,000 Russian tourists are believed to have visited Egypt each month as of July last year, with 125,000 Russian tourists visiting the country in the first two weeks of 2022. Meanwhile, in 2019, 1.6 million Ukrainian tourists visited Egypt.
The fallout from the conflict comes as the tourism sector has been trying to recover from a series of setbacks in the past few years.
The UN's World Food Programme has warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will likely increase fuel and food prices in war-torn Yemen, pushing more people into hunger as aid funding dwindles.
The announcement came as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sending oil prices past $100 per barrel.
European wheat prices also hit a record high on expectations of lower supplies as Ukraine and Russia are two of the world's biggest producers.
At the start of this year, WFP was forced to reduce food rations for eight million people in Yemen, where a seven-year-long civil war between the government and Houthi rebels has pushed the country to the brink of famine.
"The escalation of conflict in Ukraine is likely to further increase fuel and food prices and especially grains in the import-dependent country," said a WFP statement on Thursday.
"Food prices have more than doubled across much of Yemen over the past year, leaving more than half of the country in need of food assistance.
"Higher food prices will push more people into the vicious circle of hunger and dependence on humanitarian assistance."
The WFP has repeatedly warned funds were drying up despite Yemen going through what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
"We have no choice but to take food from the hungry to feed the starving and, unless we receive immediate funding, in a few weeks we risk not even being able to feed the starving," the WFP statement cited its Executive Director David Beasley as saying.
"This will be hell on earth," he warned.
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan on Friday expressed his concern over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and said his court may investigate possible war crimes in the country.
"I have been closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern," Khan said in a statement.
"I remind all sides conducting hostilities on the territory of Ukraine that my office may exercise its jurisdiction and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within Ukraine."
Following the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the subsequent fighting in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces, Ukraine accepted ICC jurisdiction for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on its territory since February 2014.
Missiles pounded the Ukrainian capital on Friday as Russian forces pressed their advance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy pleaded with the international community to do more, saying sanctions announced so far were not enough.
Air raid sirens wailed over Kyiv amid unconfirmed reports that a Russian plane had been shot down and crashed into a building.
A senior Ukrainian official said Russian forces would enter areas just outside the capital, Kyiv, later on Friday and that Ukrainian troops were defending positions on four fronts despite being outnumbered.
An estimated 100,000 people fled as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities. Dozens have been reported killed. Russian troops seized the Chernobyl former nuclear power plant north of Kyiv as they advanced on the city from Belarus.
US and Ukrainian officials say Russia aims to capture Kyiv and topple the government, which Putin regards as a puppet of the United States.
Zelenskiy said he understood Russian troops were coming for him but vowed to stay in Kyiv.
Hello MEE readers. As Russia concluded its first day of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, western countries formed a united front with sanctions on Moscow's banking sector, but the US has refrained from providing military support to Kyiv.
Russia had fired more than 160 missiles at Ukrainian targets and continues to flow forces into the country as it advances towards the capital Kyiv, according to a senior US defence official.
Countries in the Middle East offered mixed responses to the invasion, with Turkey and Israel condemning it, while Syria and Iran took to Russia's defence. The conflict is likely to have serious implications for the region's political and economic spheres.
Meanwhile in Russia, more than 700 people have been arrested at anti-war demonstrations across Russia, as anger mounted over the invasion.
In Ukraine, MEE spoke to several Arab students that are stuck in country as they risk bombardment with Russia's advance. Morocco alone has around 8,000 students in the country.
That's it from us here at MEE tonight, make sure to follow us on Twitter at @MiddleEastEye and on Instagram at @middleeasteye.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Turkey for its "strong and vocal support in defense of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the State Department said.
In a separate statement, the department said that Blinken spoke with the foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, where he "strongly condemned Russia's premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine and emphasized the importance of Allied unity for the strong, swift response to Russia's aggression."
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated Ankara's rejection of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, which it considers a serious violation of international law.
Lebanon's Foreign Ministry condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and called on the Kremlin to "halt its military operation immediately and withdraw its forces" from Ukraine.
The government said its position was based on previous invasions that Lebanon had witnessed, "which led to losses that were felt for many years." This was an apparent reference to Israeli and Syrian invasions.
"Based on Lebanon’s adherence to the principle of international law… and respecting the sovereignty of countries," the decision was made by Lebanon to stand by Ukraine, it added.
Egypt's tourism sector is dreading the fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian tourists make up the bulk of visitors to the Arab country, constituting almost a third of the 12 million tourists who visited in peak years.
Between 300,000 and 500,000 Russian tourists are believed to have visited Egypt each month as of July last year, with 125,000 Russian tourists visiting the country in the first two weeks of 2022.
Meanwhile, in 2019, 1.6 million Ukrainian tourists visited Egypt.
"Effects from the war have already started appearing, with bookings from the two countries stopping altogether," Basel al-Sisi, a member of the Egyptian Travel Agents' Association, told MEE.
"Russians and Ukrainians are just afraid that they would not be able to return to their countries if they get out of them now."
Read our full story here for more information.
Russia has condemned Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights after Israel expressed support for Ukraine in the unfolding crisis.
Russia's UN envoy Dmitry Polyanskiy told a Security Council briefing on Wednesday that Moscow was "concerned over Tel Aviv's announced plans for expanding settlement activity in the occupied Golan Heights, which directly contradicts the provisions of the 1949 Geneva Convention".
"Russia's unchanging position, according to which we do not recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights that are an inalienable part of Syria."
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine puts Israel in a difficult situation, as the country has had good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv.
For more on this, check out our full story here.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Thursday that Nato's expansion was a "serious threat" to security and stability around the world, according to the semi-official Nour News.
"Nato's expansion eastward creates tension and is a serious threat to the stability and security of independent states in various areas," Raisi was quoted as saying following Russia's military attack on Ukraine, as reported by Reuters.
"I hope what is happening will benefit peoples and the entire region," he said.
Earlier on Thursday, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that the war in Ukraine was caused by "Nato's provocative actions".
US President Joe Biden on Thursday afternoon unveiled harsh new sanctions against Russia, imposing measures to impede Moscow's ability to do business in the world's major currencies, along with sanctions against banks and state-owned enterprises.
"Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences," Biden told reporters at the White House, adding that sanctions on Putin himself are still "on the table".
Biden said the sanctions would limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds, and yen.
Biden said this was a dangerous moment for all of Europe, and while he asserted that no US troops would be deployed to Ukraine, Washington has authorised troops that had been placed on standby to deploy to Nato ally Germany.
A senior official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that 7,000 US troops will be sent to Berlin to help reassure Nato allies.
The US president also noted that the US has been working with counterparts in other countries to release additional oil from global strategic crude reserves.
Former US President Donald Trump is facing bipartisan criticism after describing Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine as "genius".
During an interview with podcaster Buck Sexton, Trump said he backed Putin in his decision to send troops to perform "peacekeeping" duties in the Russian-controlled areas of southeast Ukraine.
"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said 'this is genius'," he told the conservative podcast host.
Trump added Putin was a "tough cookie" but was "very savvy", had a "lot of great charm" and loved his country.
US Senator Bernie Sanders blasted Trump on Twitter, saying it was "unsurprising" that he would praise Putin's "murderous invasion of Ukraine as an act of 'genius.'"
"It should concern us all that Putin is exactly the kind of leader Trump would like to be, and that so few Republicans have the courage to say this out loud," the Vermont senator said.
Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster have also criticised Trump's remarks.
US President Joe Biden said the G7 had agreed on a "devastating packages of sanctions" against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
"This morning, I met with my G7 counterparts to discuss President Putin’s unjustified attack on Ukraine and we agreed to move forward on devastating packages of sanctions and other economic measures to hold Russia to account," the president tweeted on Thursday evening.
"We stand with the brave people of Ukraine."
An independent monitor said at least 735 people were arrested at anti-war demonstrations across Russia on Thursday, as anger mounted over the invasion of Ukraine.
"More than 735 people have been detained in 40 cities," said OVD-Info, which tracks arrests at opposition rallies.
It added that 330 people had been detained in the capital Moscow alone.
