Ukraine wants peace and is ready for talks with Russia, including on neutral status regarding NATO, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters on Friday amid reports that over 1000 Russian soldiers have been killed.

"If talks are possible, they should be held. If in Moscow they say they want to hold talks, including on neutral status, we are not afraid of this," he said via a text message. "We can talk about that as well."

"Our readiness for dialogue is part of our persistent pursuit of peace."

Ukraine currently is not part of NATO or the European Union, though it wants to join both, anathema to its former overlord Moscow.

Ukraine gave up its nuclear arms, after gaining independence on the breakup of the Soviet Union, in exchange for security guarantees from European countries.

After pro-democracy protests toppled a Russia-allied Ukrainian president in 2014, Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Kyiv and went on to back rebels fighting government troops in the east of the country.

Seven years later, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine from the air, sea and land on Thursday and his troops were advancing on the capital Kyiv on Friday.

Russia today also said that Moscow was ready for talks if Ukraine's military surrendered and insisted that the invading forces were looking to free the country from "oppression".

Moscow had said its first day of the Ukraine invasion had achieved all its goals and that it had destroyed 83 land-based Ukrainian targets. According to official reports, Russia had carried out 203 attacks on its western neighbour since the beginning of the day.

Early on Friday, missiles pounded the Ukrainian capital 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 day after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion that has shocked the world.

I am target No. 1, says President Zelenskiy

President Zelenskiy said he understood Russian troops were coming for him but vowed to stay in Kyiv."(The) enemy has marked me down as the number one target," Zelenskiy said in a video message. "My family is the number two target. They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state."

"I will stay in the capital. My family is also in Ukraine."

Asked if he was worried about Zelenskiy's safety, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS: "To the best of my knowledge, President Zelenskiy remains in Ukraine at his post, and of course we're concerned for the safety of all of our friends in Ukraine - government officials and others."

Russia launched its invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday following a declaration of war by Putin, in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.

Russian propaganda

Putin says Russia is carrying out "a special military operation" to stop the Ukrainian government from committing genocide against its own people - an accusation the West calls baseless. He also says Ukraine is an illegitimate state whose lands historically belong to Russia.

Ukrainian forces downed an enemy aircraft over Kyiv early on Friday, which then crashed into a residential building and set it ablaze, said Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister.

It was unclear whether the aircraft was manned or whether it could be a missile. Kyiv municipal authorities said at least eight people were injured when the object crashed into an apartment block.

The NATO question

A democratic nation of 44 million people, Ukraine voted for independence at the fall of the Soviet Union and has recently stepped up efforts to join the NATO military alliance and the European Union, aspirations that infuriate Moscow.

The United States, Britain, Japan, Canada, Australia and the EU unveiled more sanctions on Moscow on top of penalties earlier this week, including a move by Germany to halt an $11 billion gas pipeline from Russia.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described the bloc's measures as "the harshest package of sanctions we have ever implemented".

China came under pressure over its refusal to call Russia's assault an invasion.

U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking to reporters at the White House, said: "Any nation that countenances Russia's naked aggression against Ukraine will be stained by association." He declined to comment directly on China's position.