The General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, has called for prayers for Ukraine which has been invaded by Russian forces. In a video on his verified Facebook page, Apostle Suleman said, “We are going to command that war to cease, we are not negotiating.” The clergyman mentioned that the target of the war is not Ukraine but he won’t mention the target so patriots of certain countries won’t start to panic. He said, “Those who do not understand warfare are the ones worried about physical things. Every physical happening has a spiritual undertone. “We are going to pray to the Lord to intervene, because what the enemy is intending… I’m not going to talk about that. Ukraine is not the target but I won’t talk about that so those living in certain countries won’t get afraid.” Apostle Suleman stated that there’s no justification for what is being done to Ukraine, adding that “it is a premeditated thing that is being done to them.” “We are praying for them, not just Ukraine, we are praying for Russia that God Almighty will intervene for the war to cease. “When people become zealous towards destroying, it is not God, not the Holy Spirit (involved) but a demon. So don’t bother about the activities of the demon, stop the demon,” he said. He said he has been praying for days over the situation, adding that it is an insult to believers that such is going on while they are on earth. “That we are alive and this is going on is an insult to our existence as believers,” he said. The clergyman then went on his knees to pray in front of a projector screen showing the map of Ukraine and Russia.

  The tiny Federated States of Micronesia severed diplomatic ties with nuclear power Russia on Friday over the “unambiguously villainous” invasion of Ukraine, warning relations would only be reopened if Moscow displayed a “love” of humanity. Leaders of the Pacific archipelago — which has a population of just over 100,000 people — said it was acting in solidarity with Ukraine, which has already suspended diplomatic relations and called on others to do the same. Ties between FSM and Russia were formally established in 1999, but Moscow has no embassy there and state-to-state contacts are limited. “Diplomatic relations between our two countries have been severed,” President David Panuelo said expressing solidarity with Kyiv. “Ukraine has been violently and unjustifiably invaded by the Russian Federation,” he said. “While it may be little comfort, the people and government of the FSM supports your sovereignty, and supports your right to exist.” Panuelo called the Russian invasion an “unjustified and brutal assault”, which his country views as “unambiguously villainous and holds in the highest form of contempt.” He said that FMS will renew diplomatic relations with Russia only “when the latter demonstrates actionable commitments to peace, friendship, cooperation, and love in our common humanity.” Panuelo added that his people “have no animosity towards the people of the Russian Federation.”

  International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan said Friday he was increasingly concerned by developments in Ukraine after Russia launched a full-scale attack. “I have been closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern,” Khan said in a statement. “It is imperative that all parties to the conflict respect their obligations under international humanitarian law.” He warned both sides that the ICC could “exercise its jurisdiction over and investigate any act of genocide, crime against humanity or war crime committed within the territory of Ukraine since 20 February 2014”. Khan said anyone “ordering, inciting or contributing in another manner to the commission” of such crimes could be prosecuted by the court based in The Hague. He said the ICC had received many queries “with respect to the crime of aggression” but could not exercise “jurisdiction over this alleged crime in this situation” as neither Russia nor Ukraine were signatories to ICC’s founding Rome Statute.

  French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to destroy Ukraine’s statehood and warned that the “security” of its President Volodymyr Zelensky was at risk. “This is total war. Putin has decided… to take Ukraine off the map of nations,” Le Drian told France Inter radio. “The Donbas issue is just a pretext,” he said, referring to the area of eastern Ukraine that is partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists. “What Putin wants is Ukraine’s submission, and he will pursue his offensive until the end,” he added. “President Zelensky’s security is a central element of all that’s happening,” he said, adding: “We are ready to help him if necessary.” But Le Drian refused to be drawn on whether such help could extend to exfiltration of the president from Ukraine. Zelensky had said early Friday that he and his family remained in Ukraine, despite Russia identifying him as “target number one”. READ ALSO: At Least 137 ‘Heroes’ Killed As Invading Russian Forces Press Deep Into Ukraine Le Drian said France was also “worried” about a possible Russian military offensive against Moldova and Georgia, two other ex-Soviet states. He denounced “a Russian drift toward interference” in other countries, noting Putin’s repeated insistence on his country’s alleged historical grievances since the fall of the Soviet Union. French officials have warned that the crisis could quickly escalate along NATO’s eastern flank, warning that Putin could also test the West’s resolve by seeking to take control of the breakaway region of Transnistria, which has declared independence from Moldova, or other former Soviet territories. Lithuania, a Baltic state that is now a member of the NATO defence alliance, on Thursday decreed a state of emergency after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Putin is reinventing history. He wants to rebuild an empire, demonstrate his power by all means,” Le Drian said. “This is a new reality. This is no longer like during the Cold War, because then there was no war. What’s new is that this is war in the heart of Europe,” he said.

  Ukraine’s army said Friday it was fighting invading Russian forces north of the capital Kyiv, as Moscow pressed on with its advance on the pro-Western country for a second day. Russian forces reached the outskirts of Kyiv on Friday, with the government saying the city was hit by “horrific rocket strikes” in the early hours. “Airborne assault troops of the Ukrainian armed forces are fighting in the areas of the settlements of Dymer and Invankiv,” Kyiv’s army said on its Facebook page. Dymer is around 45 kilometres (28 miles) north of Kyiv, while Ivankiv is about 60 kilometres northwest of the Ukrainian capital. The military said it had stopped advancing Russian forces at the Teteriv River, a tributary of the Dnieper River that flows through Kyiv, adding that a bridge over it was destroyed. The army also said it had retaken the Gostomel airfield, with reports that it had been captured by Russian forces the day before. AFP was not able to immediately verify this. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Moscow’s forces were also targeting civilian areas and praised his countrymen for their “heroism”. “They say that civilian objects are not a target for them. But this is another lie of theirs. In reality, they do not distinguish between areas in which they operate,” Zelensky said in a video. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation against Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, confirming widespread fears Moscow was planning to invade its western neighbour.

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that invading Russian forces are targeting civilian areas, praising his countrymen for their “heroism” and assuring Kyiv is doing “everything possible” to protect them. He spoke as Moscow’s forces reached the capital, with explosions heard in the city that the government described as “horrific rocket strikes.” “They say that civilian objects are not a target for them. But this is another lie of theirs. In reality, they do not distinguish between areas in which they operate,” Zelensky said in a video. “Ukrainian air defence systems are defending our skies,” he said. “Ukrainians are demonstrating heroism”. “All our forces are doing everything possible” to protect people, he added. The Ukrainian leader called on people to show “solidarity” and help the elderly find shelter and “access to real information.” Zelensky also said that Russia will have to eventually talk to Kyiv to end their war. “Russia will have to talk to us sooner or later. Talk about how to end the fighting and stop this invasion. The sooner the conversation begins, the less losses there will be for Russia itself,” he said. Switching into Russian in his address, Zelensky acknowledged Russian street protests against Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine that ended with mass arrests Thursday. “To the citizens of the Russian Federation that are coming out to protest, we see you. And this means that you have heard us. This means that you believe us. Fight for us. Fight against war.” Russian police detained more than 1,700 people at anti-war protests across dozens of cities Thursday night. Moscow was asleep when Putin ordered an air and ground assault on Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday.

  The latest round of sanctions announced Thursday against Russia purposely spares the energy sector to avoid inflicting pain on the Western allies, but officials say they leave room for escalation. Washington said the penalties will be severe and will have a lasting impact on Russia’s economy, even though they tried to “mitigate” costs on American and European consumers, who already face rising oil prices. Here are the highlights of the measures: Hitting major banks The Treasury added five more Russian banks to the sanctions list including the country’s two largest, both majority-owned by the government, although each faced penalties with differing severity. Sberbank, which holds about a third of all bank assets in Russia, will be banned from conducting transactions through the US financial system, through what is known as the Correspondent Account or Payable-Through Account Sanctions (CAPTA) List. But VTB and three other banks were hit with “full blocking sanctions,” meaning all US-held assets will be frozen. Asked to explain the rationale behind the differing treatment, a senior administration told reporters the decision was partly due to the fact that VTB “had assets in the United States that we wanted to freeze” denying them to the Kremlin. On top of previously-announced measures, the official said “the top 10 Russian financial institutions representing nearly 80 percent of Russia’s banking sector and assets value are now under US restrictions.” However, transactions involving energy, agriculture, or medical goods are exempt from the financial prohibitions. In addition, major state banks and companies, including Gazprom’s oil and natural gas units, were cut off from Western credit markets, joining the debt blockage of the central government announced earlier this week. Cutting off high-tech goods Western allies banned exports of key high-tech goods aimed at choking off the Russian military’s capabilities. The ban targets the defense and aerospace sectors and includes semiconductors, computers, telecommunications, information security equipment, lasers, and sensors. Washington said the blockade “will cut off Russia’s access to vital technological inputs, atrophy key sectors of its industrial base, and undercut its strategic ambitions.” The United States, the European Union (EU), Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, cooperated on the ban, with more expected to join. Putin allies targeted Washington added to the list of Russian oligarchs in government and finance, who officials say “Putin relies on for his wealth and power.” The officials, including executives at Sberbank and VTB, will have any US assets frozen. The penalties extend to their family members as well, to prevent transferring resources to them.