At least two Russian military transport planes have been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses, Ukrainian officials said early Saturday morning.
An IL-76 heavy transport plane was shot down near Vasylkiv, a city roughly 25 miles south of Kyiv, said Ukraine’s top general, Valeriy Zaluzhniy. The Kyiv Independent reported the news, noting that the aircraft can carry up to 150 troops.
Another IL-76 carrying paratroopers was brought down by Ukraine’s air defense near Bila Tserkva, which is also roughly 50 miles south of Kyiv, said Ukraine’s State Agency for Special Communications. Two U.S. officials corroborated this account, according to the Associated Press.
So far, the Russian military has not commented on either of the shoot-downs, but they are said to have happened as explosions rocked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv throughout the night as Russian forces approached. In the course of the onslaught, Russian troops were repelled while attacking a military unit in Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said.
Gunfire erupting in central Kyiv pic.twitter.com/eEhVA3hB7l
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) February 26, 2022
“We are all here. Our military are here. Citizens and society are here. We are all here defending our independence, our state, and it will remain so. Glory to our defenders! Glory to our women defenders! Glory to Ukraine!” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Facebook video Friday night.
Zelensky was pressed, on behalf of the United States, to evacuate Kyiv. “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride,” was his response, according to a U.S. intelligence official, as reported by the Associated Press.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Fighting is taking place all across Ukraine as part of a Russian military operation that countries around the world, including the U.S., have condemned, and, as a result, has led to a wave of new sanctions on Russia. The invasion began Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing a “special military operation” that he said was aimed at the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine, not its occupation.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Friday that the alliance is “now deploying the NATO Response Force for the first time in a collective defense context” in response to Russia’s invasion. Ukraine is not a NATO member but neighbors a number of NATO member states. U.S. intelligence reportedly believes that Ukraine will ultimately fall before Russia’s military might.
