Russia-Ukraine updates: US to ban Russian carriers from its airspace

Ukraine's military claimed Friday to have killed an advance group of Russian saboteurs disguised as Ukrainian soldiers during a gunfight in the capital, Kyiv.

The Ukrainian military released video purportedly showing the bodies of men in Ukrainian uniforms and a destroyed truck. The fighting allegedly happened in an area only 10 minutes north of the city center.

Russian forces that crossed into Ukraine from the north on Thursday have been trying to advance south toward Kyiv. Fighting was taking place near a town 20 miles north of the entrance to the capital on Friday morning, ABC News has learned.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Russian forces pushing deeper into Ukraine appear to be closing in on the capital.

Residents of Dymer, about 20 miles north of Kyiv, told ABC News on Friday morning that they can hear shelling.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have still not managed to retake control of a key military airport on the edge of the capital that was seized by Russian forces on Thursday. The threat to Kyiv remains extremely high, as Russian tanks and armoured vehicles head toward the city while Ukrainian forces continue to try to block them.

Explosions were heard to the east of Kyiv on Friday morning.

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

At least eight people were injured after a rocket struck a residential building in a suburb of Kyiv early Friday as invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine's capital, authorities said.

In a statement on his official Telegram account, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said ambulances were taking people to the hospital and that the preliminary number of wounded was three, including one in critical condition. But a later statement posted by Ukraine's State Emergency Service on its official Facebook account said eight people were injured, 20 were rescued and 150 were evacuated.

ABC News' team in Kyiv reported hearing air-raid sirens and explosions in the early morning hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a televised address early Friday that Russian airstrikes "don't distinguish in which regions to act" and are attacking residential areas, including in the capital.

"They say they don't target civilian objects. That's not true," Zelenskyy said.

European Union leaders approved a new package of severe sanctions targeting Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

"Now we have to meet the moment; we will hold the Kremlin accountable," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a late-night press conference.

The "massive" sanctions will have "maximum impact on the Russian economy and the political elite" by targeting the financial, energy and transportation sectors, she said.

Financial sanctions targeting 70% of the Russian banking market and "key state-owned companies," including defense, will "increase Russia's borrowing costs, raise inflation and gradually erode Russia's industrial base," von der Leyen said.

Additional sanctions include an export ban targeting the oil market and a ban on the sale of spare aircraft parts and equipment to Russian airlines. Under a visa policy, diplomats and other groups will no longer have privileged access to the EU, she said.

Canada also extended sanctions targeting Russia in the wake of the invasion, including restrictions on 58 additional Russian individuals and entities, sanctioning members of the Russian Security Council and restricting exports to Russia.

"Today, we woke up to a changed world," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "Russia has launched a brutal and unprovoked attack on the sovereignty of Ukraine -- a country of more than 40 million people who have sought nothing but peace and freedom. Canada understands what is at stake. We know that the people of Ukraine, in fighting for their lives and their sovereignty, are fighting for us, too. They are fighting for democracy, and we stand with them."

-ABC News' Christine Theodorou