Formula 1 says it has terminated its contract with the promoter of the Russian Grand Prix, removing the race from the annual schedule for the foreseeable future amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Formula 1 can confirm it has terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix promoter. It means that Russia will no longer have a race in the future," the circuit said in a statement on Thursday.

The move comes after the racing circuit removed the Russian Grand Prix from the 2022 schedule last week, noting that it was "impossible" to hold the race "in the current circumstances."

According to ESPN, F1 originally signed an agreement to stage the Russian Grand Prix in 2014, and the current contract extended through the 2025 season.

The street circuit race has been held annually in Sochi since that agreement was signed. The course twists through landmarks that were built to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.

F1's decision to sever the Russian Grand Prix's contract is just the latest punishment sports leagues have levied against Russia since it invaded Ukraine late last month.

On Monday, FIFA suspended the Russian national team from international soccer events, including the upcoming World Cup. That announcement came just days after UEFA said it was moving the 2022 Champions League Final from St. Petersburg to Paris.

Also, on Monday, the IOC suggested banning all Russian athletes from all sports from international competition. On Thursday, the committee announced that Russia and Belarus would not participate in the upcoming Winter Paralympic games.

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops closed in on Ukraine’s capital Saturday after a night of explosions and street fighting sent Kyiv residents seeking shelter or fleeing the city. The country’s leader claimed Ukraine’s forces had repulsed the assault and vowed to keep up the struggle.

“The real fighting for Kyiv is ongoing,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message, accusing Russia in a video message of hitting infrastructure and civilian targets.

“We will win,” he said.

Central Kyiv appeared quiet Saturday, and skirmishes reported on the edge of the city suggested that small Russian units were trying to clear a path for the main forces. Britain’s defense ministry said Saturday that the bulk of Russian forces were 19 miles (30 kilometers) from the middle of the city.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko extended a curfew he imposed two days ago to run from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. He said “all civilians on the street during the curfew will be considered members of the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups.”

Russia claims its assault on Ukraine was aimed only at military targets, but bridges, schools and residential neighborhoods have been hit since the invasion began Thursday with air and missile strikes and Russian troops entering Ukraine from the north, east and south.

Ukraine’s health minister reported Saturday that 198 people, including three children, have been killed and more than 1,000 others have been wounded during Europe’s largest ground offensive since World War II. It was unclear whether the figure included both military and civilian casualties.

In Kyiv, a missile struck a high-rise apartment building in the southwestern outskirts near one of Kyiv’s two passenger airports, leaving a jagged hole of ravaged apartments over several floors. A rescue worker said six civilians were injured.

The conflict has driven thousands of Ukrainians from their homes in search of safety. U.N. officials said more than 120,000 Ukrainians have left the country for Poland, Moldova and other neighboring nations.

It was unclear in the fog of war how much of Ukraine was still under Ukrainian control and how much Russian forces have seized. Western governments claimed stiff Ukrainian resistance had slowed the Russian advance, and Russia does not yet control Ukraine’s skies.

Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry said a Russian missile was shot down before dawn Saturday as it headed for the dam of the sprawling water reservoir that serves Kyiv, and Ukraine said a Russian military convoy was destroyed near the city early Saturday.

In addition to Kyiv, the Russian assault appeared to focus on Ukraine’s coastline, stretching from the Black Sea port of Odesa, in the west near the border with Romania, to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol in the east.

If the Russian troops succeed, Ukraine will be cut off from access to all of its sea ports, which are vital for its economy. In Mariupol, Ukrainian soldiers guarded bridges and blocked people from the seashore area amid concerns the Russian navy could launch an assault from the sea.

The Russian military said Friday that they claimed control of Melitopol, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) inland from the Sea of Azov.

Western officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own. The invasion represented Putin’s boldest effort yet to redraw the map of Europe and revive Moscow’s Cold War-era influence.

Zelenskyy issued a defiant video recorded on a downtown Kyiv street early Saturday, saying he remained in the city and that claims the Ukrainian military would put down arms were false.

“We aren’t going to lay down weapons. We will protect the country,” the Ukrainian president said. “Our weapon is our truth, and our truth is that it’s our land, our country, our children. And we will defend all of that.”

The U.S. government urged Zelenskyy early Saturday to evacuate Kyiv but he turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, quoted the president as saying he needed anti-tank ammunition but “not a ride.”

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been on the move, seeking safety in the west of the country or beyond., The U.N. estimates that up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates. Refugees arriving in the Hungarian border town of Zahony said men between 18 and 60 were not being allowed to leave Ukraine.

“My son was not allowed to come. My heart is so sore, I’m shaking, I can’t calm down, they did not let him come,” said Vilma Sugar, 68.

City officials in Kyiv urged residents to seek shelter, to stay away from windows and to take precautions to avoid flying debris or bullets. Many spent the night in basements, underground parking garages and subway stations.

“We’re all scared and worried. We don’t know what to do then, what’s going to happen in a few days,” said Lucy Vashaka, 20, a worker at a small Kyiv hotel.

The United States and other NATO allies have sent weapons and other aid to Ukraine, which is not a NATO member. NATO member nations also have beefed up their troops in allied countries in Eastern Europe, but ruled out deploying troops to fight Russia.

Instead, the U.S., the European Union and other countries have slapped wide-raging sanctions on Russia, freezing the assets of Russian businesses and individuals including Putin and his foreign minister.

French maritime officials seized a Russian-flagged cargo ship carrying cars for potential sanctions breaches and took it to a port for investigation.

Russia remained unbowed, vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that it stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw troops immediately. The 11-1 vote, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, showed significant opposition to Russia’s invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbor.

A senior Russian official on Saturday shrugged off the wide-ranging sanctions that the U.S., the European Union and other allies slapped on Russia as a reflection of Western “political impotence.”

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, warned that Moscow could react to the sanctions by opting out of the last remaining nuclear arms pact, freezing Western assets and cutting diplomatic ties with nations in the West.

“There is no particular need in maintaining diplomatic relations,” Medvedev said. “We may look at each other in binoculars and gunsights.”

Putin has has not disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine or said how long the Russian military operation could last. He justified the invasion by saying the West left him with no other choice by refusing to negotiate Russia’s security demands.

Zelenskyy offered Friday to negotiate a key one: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and abandon its ambition of joining NATO.

The Kremlin said it accepted Kyiv’s offer to hold talks, but it appeared to be an effort to squeeze concessions out of the embattled Zelenskyy instead of a gesture toward a diplomatic solution.

People from across the Tri-State have come together to show support for Ukraine in many different ways.

On Saturday, the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati joined what it called an emergency campaign to send aid to Jewish communities in the middle of the conflict in Ukraine.

The $20 million campaign is a global effort that will go toward helping the more than 200,000 Jewish people living in Ukraine.

"It's everything from helping to ensure welfare services for folks who are displaced, providing emergency opportunities for people to leave and have security," said Jackie Congedo, director of the organization's community relations council. "Locating temporary housing for folks who are leaving and in transit, stockpiling food and water."

On Friday, in Loveland, dozens came out to show their support with a "No War" Rally.

The group at Home of the Brave Park began as a few friends, who were born in Ukraine but moved to Cincinnati, to help give each other emotional support.

"Nobody's organizing anything so okay, lets do something. So we decided to organize this protest, stand with Ukraine and we are very happy to see people here," said Allah Deroum, who was born in Ukraine but has lived in Cincinnati for three years.

One of the organizers said the rally was originally scheduled to happen during the weekend, but the group moved it up because there were fears there might not be a Ukraine left to stand in support of after intense fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

One of Cincinnati's nine sister cities around the world, Kharkiv, has been under attack since Russia invaded Ukraine this week.

It is the closest Ukrainian city to the Russian border, and on both Thursday and Friday, loud explosions could be heard on the outskirts of town with reports of some of the fiercest fighting across the country. Kharkiv is home to several industrial factories, including facilities that build tanks and aircraft, and there is an airbase just outside of the city. It is also home to a university.

World leaders Thursday condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "barbaric" and quickly slapped heavy sanctions on the Russian economy, President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and many of the country's oligarchs.

"Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences," U.S. President Joe Biden declared.

In near-unison, the United States, the 27-nation European Union and other Western allies announced a round of punitive measures against Russian banks and leading companies and imposed export controls aimed at starving the country's industries and military of semiconductors and other high-tech products.

From the U.S. to Western Europe and Japan, South Korea and Australia, nations lined up to denounce the Kremlin as the outbreak of fighting raised fears about the shape of Europe to come. The invasion initially sent stocks slumping and oil prices surging on fears of higher costs for food and fuel.

The West and its allies showed no inclination to send troops into Ukraine — a non-member of NATO — and risk a wider war on the continent. But NATO reinforced its member states in Eastern Europe as a precaution against an attack on them, too.

"Make no mistake: We will defend every ally against any attack on every inch of NATO territory," said NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

In the meantime, countries began taking steps to isolate Moscow in hopes of forcing it to pay so high a price that it changes course.

President Biden, for now, held off imposing some of the most severe sanctions, including cutting Russia out of the SWIFT payment system, which allows for the transfers of money from bank to bank around the globe. Ukraine's president called for Russia to be cast out of SWIFT, but the U.S. has expressed concern about the potential damage to European economies.

From the U.S. Congress, there was widespread support for slapping devastating sanctions on Russia, even as lawmakers from both parties urged the White House to impose even further financial restrictions to halt Putin's attack on Ukraine.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said he encouraged President Biden to "ratchet up" sanctions to inflict as much economic pain as possible on the Russian regime.

"It's pretty clear that members of the U.S. Congress, regardless of party, want us to present a totally united front," McConnell said.

EU leaders held an emergency summit and agreed on sanctions that cover, among other things, the financial, energy and transport sectors and various Russian individuals. In a statement, the leaders said the measures will have "massive and severe consequences" for Russia.

The details will not become available until Friday at the earliest.

"We want to cut off Russia's industry from the technologies desperately needed today to build the future," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said: "It is about the leadership of Russia and being merciless in finances and the economy."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced financial restrictions and export controls. In addition, Britain will also prohibit Russia's flagship airline, Aeroflot, from landing at British airports.

Johnson called the attack on Ukraine "hideous and barbaric" and said of Putin: "Now we see him for what he is — a bloodstained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest."

Canada imposed sanctions that will target 58 people and entities, including members of Russia's elite and their families, the paramilitary Wagner Group and major Russian banks. The punitive measures, announced after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a virtual meeting of G-7 industrialized nations, will also cover members of the Russian Security Council, including key cabinet ministers.

In the days before the attack, Germany suspended approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

With Stoltenberg and Johnson, von der Leyen called the invasion a "barbaric" attack on an independent nation that threatened "the stability in Europe and the whole of the international peace order."

The new U.S. sanctions also targeted the military and financial institutions of Belarus, Ukraine's neighbor to the north. Russia is using Belarus as a staging ground for troop movements into Ukraine.

Separately, the U.N. Security Council is expected to vote Friday on a resolution condemning Russia and demanding the immediate withdrawal of all its forces. But Moscow is certain to veto it.

Highlighting a widening rift in superpower relations, China stood alone in failing to condemn the attack and instead accused the United States and its allies of worsening the crisis.

In a clear defense of Moscow, China "called on parties to respect others' legitimate security concerns."

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that "all parties should work for peace instead of escalating the tension or hyping up the possibility of war" — language China has consistently used to criticize the West in the crisis.

China went further and approved imports of wheat from Russia, a move that could reduce the impact of Western sanctions. Russia, one of the biggest wheat producers, would be vulnerable if foreign markets were closed off.

The possible repercussions extended well beyond economics and geopolitics. The director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worried that the crisis will further distract global attention from helping the world's least vaccinated continent fight COVID-19.

In New York City, a projection artist is projecting "Stand With Ukraine" and the country's flag on a wall of the United Nations headquarters. The artist, David Forsee, says he decided to do this because he's "a concerned person who doesn't want to be surrounded by nukes."

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

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