Explosions rocked Kyiv for a second night in a row as Russian forces converged on the Ukrainian capital.
Large blasts were heard around 4:27 a.m. Friday local time, according to multiple reports. Meanwhile, Russian troops were said to be moving down the major highway toward the capital from the northeast.
“Strikes on Kyiv with cruise or ballistic missiles continued,” Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to Ukraine’s head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told reporters, according to CNN.
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The same official also shared a video and claimed Ukrainian air defenses shot down a Russian aircraft. However, CNN’s Matthew Chance reported that an explosion over Kyiv early Friday morning was a Ukrainian SU-27 shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile in the suburbs.
⚡️Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashenko shared this video purportedly showing air defense systems take out a Russian aircraft over Kyiv’s Darnitsky region moments ago. Other explosions heard and reported around the capital. pic.twitter.com/e9wL7ZckUQ
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 25, 2022
Trey Yingst, a Fox News reporter in Ukraine, said a deterioration of the situation can be expected “in the coming days.” He also noted that the Ukrainian forces have said they are successful “in many ways” in using anti-tank missiles but not, he noted, in using air defense.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced Thursday that he would join the city’s citizens and soldiers in defending the capital, saying he does not “have another choice.” He told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that the people of Kyiv have weapons and have become “soldiers ready to defend our city.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been moved to a bunker, according to CNN. The White House declined to provide specifics about his location, though Zelensky did acknowledge that he remains in Kyiv with his central government. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that he is is “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to oust Ukraine’s government.
Zelensky said in a video posted to his Facebook account that 137 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 316 injured since the attack began. He also said Russia has “marked me as target No. 1 — my family as target No. 2.”
Britain’s Ministry of Defense posted on social media confirmation that Russian forces had “likely captured the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant” but that Ukrainian forces “have reportedly halted Russia’s advance towards Chernihiv.”
“It is unlikely that Russia has achieved its planned Day 1 military objectives,” the ministry wrote.
We can confirm the following developments in Ukraine: pic.twitter.com/YqFUyj2HbO
— Ministry of Defence ?? (@DefenceHQ) February 25, 2022
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry claims Russia has sustained an estimated 800 casualties, according to CNN. The ministry also said 30 Russian tanks, seven Russian aircraft, and six Russian helicopters have been destroyed.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told reporters that Russian forces have disabled 83 facilities supporting Ukraine’s ground military infrastructure and have destroyed four planes and four drones, Russian state-run media agency TASS reported.
Fighting has been reported all across Ukraine in the 24 hours since the campaign began. Ukraine said its forces reclaimed control of Antonov International Airport about 25 miles from the country’s capital, Kyiv, several hours after Russian airborne troops took it over. Russian military forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as part of their invasion, while a group of Ukrainian warriors are being hailed as heroes over reports that they resisted to the bitter end a Russian warship that threatened their outpost on Snake Island in the Black Sea.
“All border guards died heroically but did not give up,” Zelensky said. “They will be awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously.”
Ukraine enacted martial law and banned all men ages 18 to 60 from leaving the country. The invasion has prompted worldwide protests against Putin, including from within Russia. Western nations have also begun enacting economic sanctions against Russia.
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President Joe Biden laid out sanctions against Russia during an address he delivered Thursday afternoon, which included locking out Russia and Russian citizens from global financial systems. Biden described Russia’s invasion as “a dangerous moment for all of Europe, for freedom around the world.”
Tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated rapidly in recent days after Putin recognized two Russia-backed regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities earlier this week. He also ordered “peacekeeping” troops to go into those areas at the time. In his televised address announcing a “special military operation,” Putin said the new military attack was aimed at the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine, not its occupation.
