Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba described the rocket strikes on the capital as "horrific", saying the city had not suffered such an ordeal since 1941 "when it was attacked by Nazi Germany."

"Ukraine defeated that evil and it will defeat this one. Stop Putin. Isolate Russia. [Sever] all ties. Kick Russia out of everything," he implored.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made similar remarks when he addressed the nation early on Friday morning, saying Russia was operating military aircraft "treacherously over residential areas" and had bombed Kyiv.

He told Ukrainians in his address: "Terrible explosions in the morning sky over Kyiv, bombing, hitting a house, fire — all this reminds of the first such attack on our capital, which took place in 1941."

Despite the dramatic and tragic progress of Russia's invasion, an intelligence assessment of their actual military achievements so far by the British government claimed their successes have been limited.

Britain's Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace, said Friday morning in comments to a British television network that "Our assessment, as of this morning, is that Russia has not taken any of its major objectives."

Noting that it was the belief of Britain's Ministry of Defence that "the Russians intend to invade the whole of Ukraine, the nonsense they were spouting about Donbas… were not honest claims", Wallace suggested that Russia is "behind its hoped-for timetable; they've lost over 450 personnel… one of the significant airports they were trying to capture with their elite Spetznaz has failed to be taken."