Read About The Tarbaby Story under the Category: About the Tarbaby Blog
Author: John Hanno
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.
Ukrainian soldier livestreamed from Snake Island during heroic stand against Russia
Peter Aitken – February 25, 2022
A Ukrainian soldier on the ill-fated Snake Island was livestreaming as Russian warships opened fire and wiped out the 13 soldiers stationed there.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine Thursday local time. World leaders and diplomats widely condemned the attack and promised strong sanctions in response.
A Russian warship issued a warning to the Ukrainian border guards at Zmiinyi Island – also known as Snake Island – only to be told by one of the guards, “Russian Warship, go f— yourself.”
One of the soldiers was livestreaming at the time, capturing the sounds and chaos of the opening salvo.
Social media identified the soldier as a 23-year-old among the troops. All 13 soldiers died “without surrender,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an update on Thursday night.
The video has gone viral, with almost 900,000 views on Twitter, 2,200 retweets and over 6,400 likes.
A copy of the audio was posted on the website of Ukrainian news outlet Ukrayinska Pravda, and a Ukrainian official confirmed the authenticity to The Washington Post.
Zelenskyy hailed the 13 soldiers and said they would all receive the honor “Hero of Ukraine.”
Snake Island sits around 30 miles off the coast of Ukraine and is less than 0.1 square mile in area, according to Axios. Despite its remote location and miniscule size, the island helped to connect a shipping corridor to multiple Ukrainian cities.
The Soviet Union handed over control of the island to Ukraine after the union’s dissolution in 1991.
Street fighting begins in Kyiv; people urged to seek shelter
Yuras Karmanau, Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov, and Dasha Litvinova – February 24, 2022
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine’s capital early Saturday, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter. The country’s president refused an American offer to evacuate, insisting that he would stay. “The fight is here,” he said.
The clashes followed two days of fighting that resulted in hundreds of casualties and pummeled bridges, schools and apartment buildings. U.S. officials believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to overthrow Ukraine’s government and replace it with a regime of his own.
The assault represented Putin’s boldest effort yet to redraw the world map and revive Moscow’s Cold War-era influence. It triggered new international efforts to end the invasion, including direct sanctions on Putin.
As his country confronted explosions and gunfire, and as the fate of Kyiv hung in the balance, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for a cease-fire and warned in a bleak statement that multiple cities were under attack.
“This night we have to stand firm,” he said. “The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”
Zelenskyy was urged to evacuate Kyiv at the behest of the U.S. government but turned down the offer, according to a senior American intelligence official with direct knowledge of the conversation. The official quoted the president as saying that “the fight is here” and that he needed anti-tank ammunition but “not a ride.”
City officials in Kyiv urged residents to take shelter, to stay away from windows and to take precautions to avoid flying debris or bullets.
The Kremlin 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.
The Russian military continued its advance, laying claim Friday to the southern Ukraine city of Melitopol. Still, it was unclear in the fog of war how much of Ukraine is still under Ukrainian control and how much or little Russian forces have seized.
As fighting persisted, Ukraine’s military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Kyiv, an account confirmed by a senior American intelligence official. It was unclear how many were on board. Transport planes can carry up to 125 paratroopers.
A second Russian military transport plane was shot down near Bila Tserkva, 50 miles (85 kilometers) south of Kyiv, according to two American officials with direct knowledge of conditions on the ground in Ukraine.
The Russian military has not commented on either plane.
The U.S. and other global powers slapped ever-tougher sanctions on Russia as the invasion reverberated through the world’s economy and energy supplies, threatening to further hit ordinary households. U.N. officials said millions could flee Ukraine. Sports leagues moved to punish Russia and even the popular Eurovision song contest banned it from the May finals in Italy.
Through it all, Russia remained unbowed, vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding that it stop attacking Ukraine and withdraw troops immediately. The veto was expected, but the U.S. and its supporters argued that the effort would highlight Moscow’s international isolation. The 11-1 vote, with China, India and the United Arab Emirates abstaining, showed significant but not total opposition to Russia’s invasion of its smaller, militarily weaker neighbor.
NATO, meanwhile, decided to send parts of the alliance’s response force to help protect its member nations in the east for the first time. NATO did not say how many troops would be deployed but added that it would involve land, sea and air power.
Day Two of Russia’s invasion, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, focused on the Ukrainian capital, where Associated Press reporters heard explosions starting before dawn. Gunfire was reported in several areas.
A large boom was heard in the evening near Maidan Nezalezhnosti, the square in central Kyiv that was the heart of protests which led to the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president. The cause was not immediately known.
Five explosions struck near a major power plant on Kyiv’s eastern outskirts, said Mayor Vitaly Klitschko. There was no information on what caused them, and no electrical outages were immediately reported.
It was unclear how many people overall had died. Ukrainian officials reported at least 137 deaths on their side from the first full day of fighting and claimed hundreds on the Russian one. Russian authorities released no casualty figures.
U.N. officials reported 25 civilian deaths, mostly from shelling and airstrikes, and said that 100,000 people were believed to have left their homes. They estimate that up to 4 million could flee if the fighting escalates.
Zelenskyy tweeted that he and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone and discussed “strengthening sanctions, concrete defense assistance and an antiwar coalition.”
Late Friday, Biden signed a memo authorizing up to $350 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine, bringing the total security assistance approved for Ukraine to $1 billion over the past year. It was not immediately clear how quickly the aid would flow.
Zelenskyy’s whereabouts were kept secret after Zelenskyy told European leaders in a call Thursday that he was Russia’s No. 1 target — and that they might not see him again alive. His office later released a video of him standing with senior aides outside the presidential office and saying that he and other government officials would stay in the capital.
Zelenskyy earlier offered to negotiate on a key Putin demand: that Ukraine declare itself neutral and abandon its ambition of joining NATO. The Kremlin said Kyiv initially agreed to have talks in Minsk, then said it would prefer Warsaw and later halted communications. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said later that Kyiv would discuss prospects for talks on Saturday.
The assault was anticipated for weeks by the U.S. and Western allies and denied to be in the works just as long by Putin. He argued the West left him with no other choice by refusing to negotiate Russia’s security demands.
In a window into how the increasingly isolated Putin views Ukraine and its leadership, he urged Ukraine’s military to surrender, saying: “We would find it easier to agree with you than with that gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who have holed up in Kyiv and have taken the entire Ukrainian people hostage.”
Playing on Russian nostalgia for World War II heroism, the Kremlin equates members of Ukrainian right-wing groups with neo-Nazis. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, angrily dismisses those claims.
Putin has not disclosed his ultimate plans for Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a hint, saying, “We want to allow the Ukrainian people to determine its own fate.” Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia recognizes Zelenskyy as the president, but would not say how long the Russian military operation could last.
Ukrainians abruptly adjusted to life under fire, after Russian forces invaded the country from three sides as they massed an estimated 150,000 troops nearby.
Residents of a Kyiv apartment building woke to screaming, smoke and flying dust. What the mayor identified as Russian shelling tore off part of the building and ignited a fire.
“What are you doing? What is this?” resident Yurii Zhyhanov asked Russian forces. Like countless other Ukrainians, he grabbed what belongings he could, took his mother, and fled, car alarms wailing behind him.
Elsewhere in Kyiv, the body of a dead soldier lay near an underpass. Fragments of a downed aircraft smoked amid the brick homes of a residential area. Black plastic was draped over body parts found beside them. People climbed out of bomb shelters, basements and subways to face another day of upheaval.
“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.
At the Pentagon, press secretary John Kirby said the U.S. believes the offensive, including its advance on Kiev, has gone more slowly than Moscow had planned, noting that Ukraine forces have been fighting back. But he also said the military campaign is in an early stage and circumstances can change rapidly.
The Biden administration said Friday that it would move to freeze the assets of Putin and Lavrov, following the European Union and Britain in directly sanctioning top Russian leadership.
Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, called the sanctions against Putin and Lavrov “an example and a demonstration of a total helplessness” of the West.
Isachenkov and Litvinova reported from Moscow. Francesca Ebel, Josef Federman and Andrew Drake in Kyiv; Angela Charlton in Paris; Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin; Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels; Nic Dumitrache in Mariupol, Ukraine; Matt Sedensky in New York; Jennifer Peltz at the United Nations; James LaPorta in Boca Raton, Fla., and Robert Burns, Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, Eric Tucker, Nomaan Merchant, Ellen Knickmeyer, Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed.
Constantine Yevtushenko told i news he has come across Russian soldiers who have “no idea” why they are in Ukraine and are “totally disoriented”.
The 38-year-old managing partner at UNIT.City said troops spoke of how they were in military training when their commander gave them an order to “go that way”. Before they knew it they were waging a war against their neighbour.
“They are just following the orders that they have,” Mr Yevtushenko said. “They are kids, born in 2000 and 2002, they are frustrated, our army forces don’t even know what to do with those kids, and there are thousands of those guys now on the fields of Ukraine – killed.
Ukrainian Constantine Yevtushenko, 38, said it was ‘hard’ to part from his wife and three children, but is ready to ‘protect our land’ (Photo: Constantine Yevtushenko)
“They don’t have fuel, they are asking people to help them with food,” Mr Yevtushenko continued, as he pleaded with the media to help counter the information censorship in Russia as its citizens must know of the humanitarian toll the conflict has been causing.
Saying he has spoken to Russians about the situation, the dad-of-three said: “They have no information about how many of their soldiers have already died here, and it’s more than 4,000 soldiers that have died, it’s an absolute humanitarian disaster.”
‘A window of democracy’
Driving from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv to Lviv would usually take five hours or so. But due to the “huge” queues on the highways caused by desperate people wanting to flee to the west, where it is relatively safer, it took Mr Yevtushenko 13 hours to get to his parents’ house in Lviv. It took his friend 24 hours to do the same trip as traffic increased over the weekend.
His wife and three daughters have fled to Cyprus, but being of fighting age, the 38-year-old had to abide by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s order for all men between the age of 18 and 60 to not leave the country as they may have to join the frontline.
“Are you scared?”,i asked “Of course not!” Mr. Yevtushenko replied. “We are in our land, we are protecting ourselves and we will stand till the end, there is no [other] way,” the managing partner, who has recently been coordinating efforts to ensure those in shelters get access to food, has said.
“All the nation of Ukraine is not doing well now because we are fighting the real war, the real war that nobody could even ever expect to happen in the 21st century in the middle of Europe.”
He said Ukraine needs more weapons and helicopters from Nato to counter the Russian attack, which has already claimed the lives of more than 198 civilians, including three children, despite Mr Putin’s claim he was merely targeting military infrastructure.
“I don’t think that it’s a good idea that Nato is directly a part of this war, this is our war. We don’t need your soldiers here, we will handle this, but we need the support, the ammunition, so we can protect us and you.”
He added: “You have to spread the information among your citizens because your citizens influence your politicians and we believe we are fighting for democracy now, and we believe that once it’s finished we will be rebuilding our country and we will be the window of democracy from east to west.”
Battle for Ukrainian capital underway as explosions seen and heard in Kyiv
By Nathan Hodge, Mat Chance, Tim Lester, Laura Smith – Spark and Helen Regan – February 25, 2022
(CNN)Explosions have been seen and heard in parts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as the fight by Ukrainian forces to hold back a Russian advance on the capital intensifies in the early hours of Saturday morning, amid warnings the city could fall within days and as officials handed out weapons to reservists.
“This night will be very difficult, and the enemy will use all available forces to break the resistance of Ukrainians,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a late-night video message Friday. “This night we have to stand ground. The fate of Ukraine is being decided right now.”
Earlier Saturday, videos from eyewitnesses showed explosions taking place in an area north-west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. There is a military base in the area.
CNN teams in the capital also reported hearing loud explosions to the west and south of the city Saturday. Shortly afterward, Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications said clashes are underway in an eastern suburb as well — as Russian forces close in on the capital from multiple sides.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian armed forces reported heavy fighting around the city of Vasylkiv, some 30 kilometers southwest of Kyiv.
“Heavy fighting is currently underway in the town of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region, where the occupiers are trying to land a landing party,” the armed forces said.
Russian forces are close to Kyiv, Zelensky confirmed in his message Friday, advancing on the capital from the north and east after seizing control Thursday of an airbase just north of the city. But “Ukrainians resist the Russian aggression heroically,” he said.
Russia’s military claimed earlier Friday its forces had staged a “successful landing operation” to capture Hostomel airfield, viewed as strategically important, on Kyiv’s outskirts.
Zelensky’s comments came hours after a video was posted on his Facebook page, showing him with a group of men, saying, “We are here. We are in Kyiv. We are defending Ukraine.”
Before dawn Friday, explosions lit up the sky above the capital as Russia targeted the city with missile strikes, according to a Ukrainian government adviser. A CNN team reported hearing two large blasts in central Kyiv and a third loud explosion in the distance, followed by at least three more explosions to the south-west of the city a few hours later.
“Strikes on Kyiv with cruise or ballistic missiles continued,” Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine told reporters via text message Friday.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said Russian reconnaissance troops had entered the Obolon district of northern Kyiv, just a few miles from the city center. Videos from the area showed chaotic scenes as civilians tried to hide from small arms fire.
Ukrainian military vehicles move past Independence Square in central Kyiv on February 24, 2022.
A tweet from the ministry asked citizens of the district to report any suspicious movements, adding: “Make Molotov cocktails and take down the occupier.”
CNN witnessed a group of Ukrainian security forces leave the city police headquarters with weapons and ammunition — apparently heading towards Obolon.
Meanwhile, 92 people working at the Chernobyl power plant, the site of the world’s worst-ever nuclear disaster, have been taken hostage, the Ukrainian ambassador to the US said Friday. Russian forces took control of the site on Thursday, sparking fears that the fighting could interfere with the operation of nuclear waste facilities.
As Russian troops advance, US intelligence officials are concerned that Kyiv could fall under Russian control within days, according to two sources familiar with the latest intelligence.
However, the latest British defense intelligence assessment said Russia had made “limited progress” Friday in its attack.
“Fighting continues in key locations. Russia has made limited progress so far today and Ukraine retains control of key cities. Ukrainian MOD reports that Russian forces have arrived in the suburbs of Kyiv,” the UK Ministry of Defense tweeted.
A senior US defense official told reporters that the Russians have “about a third of their combat power” in Ukraine out of the total combat power they have amassed on the country’s borders right now, but “that does not mean that they will not commit more.”
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry earlier said that airborne assault troops blew up a bridge over the Teteriv River at Ivankiv, about 30 miles north of Kyiv, successfully preventing a Russian column of forces from advancing towards the capital, which has a population of close to 3 million.
A Ukrainian firefighter walks between fragments of a downed aircraft in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, February 25, 2022. It was unclear what aircraft crashed and what brought it down.
For now, Ukraine’s democratically elected government remains intact but President Volodymr Zelensky warned in a video address late Thursday that “enemy sabotage groups” had entered this city and he is their No. 1 target. “They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state,” he said.
“Russian forces continued to launch missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine. They say that they are only targeting military facilities, but these are lies. In fact, they do not distinguish in which areas they operate,” he said. “Such attacks on our capital haven’t occurred since 1941.”In an address Friday morning, Zelensky said Ukrainians were “showing their true heroism” but that they were defending their country “alone.” The sanctions imposed on Russia by Western powers are “not enough to get these foreign troops off our soil,” he said.
A few hours later, Zelensky released a message in which he again called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold direct talks. “There is fighting all over Ukraine now. Let’s sit down at the negotiation table to stop the people’s deaths,” he said, speaking in Russian.
Shortly afterward, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was ready to send a delegation to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, for talks with Ukraine, Russian state news agency RIA-Novosti reported.
“As you know, today the President of Ukraine Zelensky announced his readiness to discuss the neutral status of Ukraine,” Peskov said, according to RIA. The talks would concern “neutral status,” he suggested. Peskov said later Friday that the Ukrainian side had countered with a proposal to meet in Warsaw and then dropped contact.
Zelensky has not directly proposed neutral status but has signaled a willingness to discuss it, while insisting his country be provided security guarantees.
“Ukraine has been and remains ready to talk about a ceasefire and peace. This is our constant position,” Sergii Nykyforov, a spokesperson for Zelensky, said late Friday. He also denied what he called “claims that we have refused to negotiate.”
Meanwhile, Putin called on Ukraine’s armed forces to overthrow their government in remarks to his security council Friday.
“Do not let Banderites (Ukrainian nationalists) and neo-Nazis use your children, wives and old people as human shields,” Putin said in remarks aired on Russian state television. “Take power into your own hands, it looks like it will be easier for us to come to an agreement than with this gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis that has settled in Kyiv and taken hostage the entire Ukrainian people.”
Putin frequently repeats the baseless and inaccurate claim that the democratically elected Ukrainian government is a “Nazi” or “fascist” regime. The language has been roundly condemned internationally, especially considering that Zelensky is Jewish.
Asked by CNN at a news conference Friday what Moscow’s plans were for the leadership of Ukraine as Russian forces advance on Kyiv, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov replied: “Nobody is going to attack the people of Ukraine.”
In an interview with CNN on the streets of Kyiv, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Putin of being “simply crazy” in wanting to “come here to kill Ukrainians” — and vowed they would resist. “We demonstrate a unique quality that we can stand against Russian aggression,” he said.
A photograph taken on February 24, 2022 shows an Ukrainian infantry combat vehicle standing guard on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Homes damaged
The advance on Kyiv comes only a day after Russian forces entered Ukraine from three sides, by land, sea and air, prompting a barrage of international condemnation and sanctions — and questions about Putin’s wider ambitions for the country and its capital.
It’s unclear how long Ukrainian forces can resist the advance of Russian forces who are much better equipped and have superior air power.
Two residential buildings in Kyiv suffered damage in the early hours of Friday, but it’s not clear if they were intentionally struck or hit by debris, or if anyone was injured.
Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Evgeny Yenin told CNN a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet was shot down over Kyiv. Photos tweeted by the emergency forces appear to show a fire at a two-story private house with debris from what looks to be a plane nearby. It is unclear if the house was hit by remnants of the jet.
Separately, images showed firefighters working to put out a blaze at an apartment building on the left bank of the city.
Photos: Russia invades UkraineSmoke and flames are seen near Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, February 26. Explosions have been seen and heard in parts of the capital as Ukrainians battle to hold back advancing Russian troops.
As they approach, many Ukrainians are preparing to fight back. Some 18,000 guns with ammunition have been distributed to reservists in the Kyiv region alone since the Russian invasion began early Thursday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said, with more weapons on their way.
Outside the Kyiv region, fighting continued in cities including Sumy, in the northeast, Chernihiv in the north and Kherson to the south.
A CNN team that visited a bridge crossing from Russian-held areas into the southern city of Kherson saw four large shell craters, 10 discarded Ukrainian armored vehicles and several bodies, but the Ukrainians appeared to have been able to push Russian forces back.
Low-flying jets could be seen overhead and air raid sirens wailed across the city.
A Russian defense ministry spokesperson said in a statement that a “counter-offensive” was underway in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, and that Ukrainian service members had surrendered to Russian troops and pro-Russian separatists. CNN could not immediately check the veracity of those claims.
Makeshift bunkers
Officials in the country believe Russia’s plan is to overthrow the Ukrainian leadership and install a pro-Russian government.
Those fears were shared with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who said Thursday that he’s “convinced” Moscow is going to try to overthrow the Ukrainian government.
If that happens, Blinken said he believes “Moscow has developed plans to inflict widespread human rights abuses — and potentially worse — on the Ukrainian people.”
The fighting in Ukraine appears to be some of the worst conventional warfare Europe has seen since World War II and the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. Preliminary figures indicate 137 Ukrainian solders have been killed, including every soldier defending an island in the Black Sea that was taken over by Russian troops, according to President Zelensky.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy makes a statement in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 25.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said its armed forces had caused around 800 casualties among Russian forces since the attacks started early on Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether the ministry was referring solely to the number killed and CNN is not able to independently verify Ukraine’s figures.
By the end of Thursday, Putin’s forces had launched “in total more than 160 missiles for airstrikes,” a senior US defense official said, prompting a response reminiscent of the late 1930s, with vulnerable children evacuated by train from eastern Ukraine and packed subway stations turned into makeshift bunkers as air raid sirens wailed.
A family takes shelter along with other Kyiv residents in an underground parking garage on Friday. Some areas of the Ukrainian capital were hit by aerial attacks.
In an ominous sign a ground war could escalate, Zelensky barred male citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country, according to the State Border Guard Service.
Zelensky also ordered a general military mobilization “in order to ensure the defense of the state, maintaining combat and mobilization readiness of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations, in a declaration signed late Thursday.
More than 100,000 people have already fled areas most at risk of attack within Ukraine, according to the United Nations refugee agency. The mass movement followed warnings from the US Ambassador to the UN, who said Russia’s actions in Ukraine could create one of the largest refugee crises facing the world today, displacing as many as five million people.
Polish officials reported an increase in the number of people crossing into the country from Ukraine in the hours after the Russian invasion began.
People hide in a bomb shelter in Kyiv in the early hours of February 25.
Sanctioning Putin
The United States will impose sanctions on Putin and Lavrov, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday, hours after the European Union and United Kingdom said they would do the same.
The EU also announced a slew of other new sanctions on Russia, designed to have “maximum impact on the Russian economy and political elite.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the sanctions would hit Russia’s financial, energy and transport sectors, visa policy, and include export controls and export financing bans.
“We want to financially isolate Russia, we want to cut all the ties between Russia and the international financial system,” said French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
Speaking in Brussels on Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg described Russia’s attack on Ukraine as a “brutal act of war.”
The alliance activated the NATO Response Force (NRF) for the first time ever in response to the invasion. The NRF is made up of land, air, sea and special operations forces from the allies that can deploy quickly in support of the NATO alliance.
“We have over 100 jets at high alert, operating in over 30 different locations, and over 120 ships from the high north, to the Mediterranean. We activated the defense plans yesterday, and now elements of this force are being deployed,” Stoltenberg said during a press briefing on Friday, following an extraordinary meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government in Brussels. He also clarified that while the United States, Canada and European allies have “deployed thousands more troops” to the eastern part of the alliance, NATO is not deploying the entire Response Force.
A big concern for NATO is whether Putin’s intentions lie beyond Ukraine, a prospect that risks drawing all 30 members — including the US, the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany — into a wider conflict on European soil.
“You don’t need intelligence to tell you that that’s exactly what President Putin wants. He has made clear he’d like to reconstitute the Soviet Empire, short of that he’d like to reassert a sphere of influence around the neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet bloc,” said Blinken on CBS Evening News.
Blinken said NATO would stand in the way if those were Putin’s ultimate goals.
“Now, when it comes to a threat beyond Ukraine’s borders. There’s something very powerful standing in his way. That’s article five of NATO, an attack on one is an attack on all,” the top diplomat said.On Thursday, the US Secretary of Defense ordered the deployment of 7,000 US service members to Europe. The deployment brings the number of US troops moved towards eastern Europe at more than 14,000.
CNN’s Julia Kesa and Ivana Kottasova in Kyiv and Josh Pennington, MJ Lee and Michael Callahan contributed reporting. CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh, Jim Sciutto, Katie Bo Lillis, Anna Chernova, Vasco Cotovio, Jonny Hallam, Joseph Ataman, Antonia Mortensen, Lindsay Isaac and Ellie Kaufman also contributed.
What is a thermobaric bomb? Fears Putin will use weapon which can destroy cities block-by-block
The so-called ‘vacuum bombs’ are capable of vaporizing human bodies and reducing cities to rubble
By Georgina Littlejohn – February 26, 2022
A Russian Army TOS-1A ‘Solntsepyok (Blazing Sun)’ multiple rocket launcher and thermobaric weapon mounted on a T-72 tank chassis (Photo by Leonid Faerberg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
But Western officials have warned that if the Ukrainian military resistance continues to hold up the Russian assault, President Putin could resort to using thermobaric weapons.
But what is a thermobaric weapon and how dangerous is it?
What is a thermobaric weapon?
Dubbed the ‘father of all bombs’, a thermobaric weapon works by using oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion, making it far deadlier than a conventional weapon.
The so-called ‘vacuum bombs’ are capable of vapourising human bodies, crushing internal organs and reducing cities to rubble causing huge loss of life.
Who developed them?
Both the United States and the Soviet Union developed thermobaric weapons in the 1960s.
In September 2007, the largest thermobaric weapon ever made was detonated by Russia and created an explosion equivalent to 39.9 tons.
The US version reportedly costs over £11 million ($16 million) each.
In 2017, the US dropped one which weighed 21,600 pounds on the Taliban in Afghanistan. It left a crater more than 300 metres wide after it exploded six feet above the ground.
Is the West concerned Russia will resort to using them?
They believe because Russian forces missed most of their day one objectives of the invasion, they could resort to indiscriminate firing to make up ground.
One official said this could include thermobaric weapons which Russia is known to have in its armory and has used in past conflicts.
The Tos-1 Buratino weapons are understood to have crossed into Ukraine, although they have yet to be used.
Moscow has previously employed them in Chechnya and Syria.
“My fear would be that if they don’t meet their timescale and objectives they would be indiscriminate in their use of violence,” the official said.
“They don’t adhere to the same principles of necessity and proportionality and rule of law that Western forces do.”
West unleashes SWIFT bans, more crushing penalties on Russia
Zeke Miller, Raf Casert, Ellen Knickmeyer, Ken Sweet – February 26, 2022
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and European nations agreed Saturday to impose the most potentially crippling financial penalties yet on Russia over its unrelenting invasion of Ukraine, going after the central bank reserves that underpin the Russian economy and severing some Russian banks from a vital global financial network.
The decision, announced as Ukrainian forces battled Saturday to hold Russian forces back from Ukraine’s capital and residents sheltered in subway tunnels, basements and underground garages, has potential to spread the pain of Western retaliation for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion to ordinary Russians far more than previous rounds of penalties.
“Putin embarked on a path aiming to destroy Ukraine, but what he is also doing, in fact, is destroying the future of his own country,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.
The European Union, United States, United Kingdom and other allies have steadily stepped up the intensity of their sanctions since Russia launched the invasion late last week.
While U.S. and European officials made clear they still were working out the mechanics of how to implement the latest measures, and intend to spare Russia’s oil and natural gas exports, the sanctions in total potentially could amount to some of the toughest levied on a nation in modern times. If fully carried out as planned, the measures will severely damage the Russian economy and markedly constrain its ability to import and export goods.
The U.S. and European allies announced the moves in a joint statement as part of a new round of financial sanctions meant to “hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.”
The central bank restrictions target access to the more than $600 billion in reserves that the Kremlin has at its disposal, and are meant to block Russia’s ability to support the ruble as it plunges in value amid tightening Western sanctions.
U.S. officials said Saturday’s steps were framed to send the ruble into “free fall” and promote soaring inflation in the Russian economy.
The decline of the ruble would likely send inflation soaring, which would hurt everyday Russians and not just the Russian elites who were the targets of the original sanctions. The resulting economic disruption, if Saturday’s measures are as harsh as described, could leave Putin facing political unrest at home.
Analysts predicted intensifying runs on banks by Russians, and falling government reserves as Russians scrambled to sell their targeted currency for safer assets.
The U.S. officials noted that previously announced sanctions have already had an impact on Russia, bringing its currency to its lowest level against the dollar in history and giving its stock market the worst week on record.
Saturday’s move also includes cutting key Russian banks out of the SWIFT financial messaging system, which daily moves countless billions of dollars around more than 11,000 banks and other financial institutions around the world.
The fine print of the sanctions was still being ironed out over the weekend, officials said, as they work to limit the impact of the restrictions on other economies and European purchases of Russian energy.
Allies on both sides of the Atlantic also considered the SWIFT option in 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimea and backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia declared then that kicking it out of SWIFT would be equivalent to a declaration of war. The allies — criticized ever after for responding too weakly to Russia’s 2014 aggression — shelved the idea back then. Russia since then has tried to develop its own financial transfer system, with limited success.
The U.S. has succeeded before in persuading the Belgium-based SWIFT system to kick out a country — Iran, over its nuclear program. But kicking Russia out of SWIFT could also hurt other economies, including those of the U.S. and key ally Germany.
Only rarely has the West and its allies fired a full salvo of its available financial weapons on a country. Iran and North Korea, two previous targets, had far smaller roles in the world economy, while Russia, with its enormous petroleum reserves, plays a much bigger role in global trade, and parts of Europe depend on its natural gas.
The disconnection from SWIFT announced by the West on Saturday is partial, leaving Europe and the United States room to escalate penalties later. Officials said they had not fully settled on which banks would be cut off.
Announcing the measures in Brussels, the EU Commission president, von der Leyen, said she would push the bloc to “paralyze the assets of Russia’s Central bank” so that its transactions would be frozen. Cutting several commercial banks from SWIFT “will ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally,” she added.
“Cutting banks off will stop them from conducting most of their financial transactions worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports,” she added.
Getting the EU on board for sanctioning Russia through SWIFT had been a tough process since EU trade with Russia amounted to 80 billion euros, about 10 times as much as the United States, which had been an early proponent of such measures.
Germany specifically had balked at the measure since it could hit them hard. But Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement that “after Russia’s shameless attack … we are working hard on limiting the collateral damage of decoupling (Russia) from SWIFT so that it hits the right people. What we need is a targeted, functional restrictions of SWIFT.”
As another measure, the allies announced a commitment “to taking measures to limit the sale of citizenship — so-called golden passports — that let wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems.”
The group also announced the formation this week of a trans-Atlantic task force to ensure that these and other sanctions on Russia are implemented effectively through information sharing and asset freezes.
“These new sanctions, which include removing several Russian banks from SWIFT and sanctioning Russia’s central bank, are likely to cause serious damage to the Russian economy and its banking system,” said Clay Lowery, executive vice president of the Institute of International Finance. “While details on how the new sanctions affect energy are still emerging, we do know that sanctions on its central bank will make it more difficult for Russia to export energy and other commodities.”
Rachel Ziemba, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said that even without a complete SWIFT ban, “these measures will still be painful to Russia’s economy. They reinforce the measures already taken earlier this week by making transactions more complicated and difficult.”
Ziemba says how much pain the sanctions render on the Russian economy will depend on which banks are restricted and which measures are taken to restrict the ability of the Central Bank to operate.
“Regardless, these sort of escalating sanctions, removing banks from SWIFT, restricting the Central Bank, this will all make it more difficult to get commodities from Russia and will increase the pressure on the financial market.”
Meantime, the U.S. Embassy in Russia is warning Americans of multiple reports of non-Russian credit and debit cards being declined in Russia. In a tweet Saturday night, the American Embassy said the problem appears to be related to recent sanctions, imposed on Russian banks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The embassy says U.S. citizens in Russia should be prepared with alternate means of payment should cards be declined. It also reminded U.S. citizens that the State Department advises against travel to Russia.
Casert reported from Brussels and Sweet from New York. Associated Press writers Frank Jordan, Fatima Hussein and Josh Boak contributed to this report.
Jon Stewart Praises ‘Grace’ Of Comedian-Turned-President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
“We’re watching Shecky Greene transform into Churchill,” he said of Ukraine’s leader.
By Hilary Hanson – February 26, 2022
Comedian Jon Stewart expressed admiration and respect on Saturday for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was a successful comedian before being elected Ukraine’s president.
The former “Daily Show” host discussed Zelenskyy with writers Robby Slowik and Rob Christensen on his new show, “The Problem With Jon Stewart.”
“We are comedians, and we know the general brand of cowardice that runs through our business,” said Stewart.
That, he said, was in stark contrast to the actions of Zelenskyy, who has emerged as a strong wartime leader during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyy has postedvideos expressing his resolution to stay in Kyiv, the country’s capital, and fight, despite threats to his life. When the United States offered to evacuate Zelenskyy from the city, he reportedly said, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.”
“We’re watching Shecky Greene transform into Churchill,” Stewart said, a reference to the nightclub comedian who was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who led the United Kingdom during World War II.
He also imagined a darkly funny scene involving a group of comics complaining about the “horrors” of their profession ― like being poorly treated at a comedy club ― before Zelenskyy chimes in to recount the genuine horrors of war.
Stewart praised what he characterized Zelenskyy’s “grace” under the circumstances.
“What this dude is doing, it is incredibly moving,” he said.
With world leaders condemning Russia and Putin, sports teams and organizations, as well as athletes, from across the globe are now moving to separate themselves from the country and its leader.
The Champions League final has been moved from St. Petersburg to Paris.
The 2022 Champions League final was set to be held in St. Petersburg.
European soccer’s showpiece game was set to be held at the Gazprom Arena in Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg, on May 28.
The statement came after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel said he would not attend the race if it went ahead.https://www.youtube.com/embed/yCmmn-Axkws
“The FIA Formula 1 World Championship visits countries all over the world with a positive vision to unite people, bringing nations together,” F1 said.
“We are watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation.
“On Thursday evening Formula 1, the FIA, and the teams discussed the position of our sport, and the conclusion is, including the view of all relevant stakeholders, that it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances.”
A German soccer club removed a Russian oil giant from its shirts.
Schalke 04 has removed sponsor Gazprom from its shirts.
“In view of the events, development and escalation of the past few days, FC Schalke 04 has decided to remove the lettering of its main sponsor – “GAZPROM” – from the jerseys,” a club statement read.
“Instead, ‘Schalke 04’ will be on the chest of the Royal Blues.”
While Formula One team Haas made a similar move.
A composite image of the Haas F1 team’s car before and after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Haas opted to remove Russian sponsor Uralkali’s logo from its car during the final day of testing in Barcelona on Friday as it continued its preparations for the new season. The car’s livery also included a front wing in the colors of the Russian flag, which has also been changed.
“Haas F1 Team will present its VF-22 in a plain white livery, minus Uralkali branding, for the third and final day of track running at Circuit de Barcelona on Friday,” the team said in a statement, per Sportsmail.
“No further comment will be made at this time regarding team partner agreements.”
Haas finds itself in a tough spot as Uralkali is its largest sponsor, and one of its drivers, Nikita Mazepin, is the son of a Putin-linked oligarch.
Soccer giant Manchester United has also ditched a Russian sponsor.
Manchester United’s association with Aeroflot is no longer.
The ATP Tour cancelled a challenger tournament in Moscow set for next week.
“Due to concerns over player safety and uncertainty related to international travel following the recent escalation of events between Russia and Ukraine, next week’s ATP Challenger tournament in Moscow will not take place as scheduled,” the ATP said in a statement Friday.
The Kremlin Cup, set to take place in Moscow in October, is yet to be removed from the calendar.
Skiing and basketball events in Russia have been stopped.
Nino Tsiklauri of Team Georgia.
On Friday, the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to cancel all of its remaining 2021/2022 FIS World Cup stages which are set to be hosted in Russia.
“In the interest of the safety of all participants and to maintain the integrity of the World Cup, that all remaining World Cup events scheduled to take place in Russia between now and the end of the 2021-22 season will be cancelled or moved to another location,” a statement said.
In basketball, Barcelona said its team would not fly to Russia for two games against Russian teams Zenit St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow on Saturday and Monday in the Euroleague.
Several European soccer federations also said that they won’t play games in Russia.
Russia is due to host Poland in a World Cup qualifying playoff game on March 24. Should Russia win that fixture it would play Sweden or the Czech Republic in the next round.
“The signatories to this appeal do not consider travelling to Russia and playing football matches there,” the three countries said in a joint statement addressed to FIFA’s General Secretary.
“The military escalation that we are observing entails serious consequences and considerably lower safety for our national football teams and official delegations.”
And the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has condemned Russia.
IOC President Thomas Bach.
With the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games starting on March 4, the IOC hit out at Russia for breaching the Olympic Truce.
The Olympic Truce is a tradition dating back to ancient Greece in which calls for the “cessation of hostilities” between Olympic countries seven days before and after the games to “promote peace” and ensure athletes’ safe passage in-and-out of their countries.
The truce is non-binding, meaning Russia won’t face any consequences from the IOC.
“It has established a task force to closely monitor the situation and to coordinate humanitarian assistance to members of the Olympic Community in Ukraine where possible.”
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) added that it was “in dialogue” with the Ukrainian and Russian Paralympic Committees amid the ongoing crisis.
Russian offensive unexpectedly slowed by fierce Ukrainian resistance
Gleb Garanich, Courtney Kube and Corky Siemaszko – February 25, 2022
UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT (Anatoli Stepanov / AFP via Getty Images)Anatoli Stepanov
Two days in, the Russian offensive appeared to be stymied by stiffer-than-expected resistance from highly motivated Ukrainian armed forces.
Despite an overwhelming advantage in manpower and equipment, the Russian advance lost some of its momentum Friday and the quick victory Russian President Vladimir Putin was counting on is no longer assured, a senior United States defense official told NBC News.
“We do assess that there is greater resistance by the Ukrainians than the Russians expected,” the official said. “They are fighting for their country.”
While Russian forces are threatening the capital, Kyiv, and other major cities like Kharkiv and small-but-strategic cities like Rivne, none have have been taken so far and the Ukrainian air defenses remain largely intact, despite being targeted by relentless missile attacks, the official said.
Former CIA director David Petraeus echoed that assessment in an interview with MSNBC.
Related video: UN warns of underestimating Russia on eve of invasion
Scroll back up to restore default view.
“They are encountering more significant resistance and more determination than I think they expected,” Petraeus said.
“The Russians have not collapsed the Ukrainian command and control,” Petraeus said. “They haven’t taken even remotely a major city yet….This has to be unsettling to them.”
Still, Petraeus said he expects the Russians will eventually defeat the Ukrainian army.
“They’ll defeat the Ukrainian conventional forces, that’s again, not in question,” he said. “It’s how long it takes, how determined can they be as they’re taking very tough losses.”
Western Ukraine, which borders NATO member Poland and where the U.S. and other countries are maintaining a diplomatic presence in the city of Lviv, “remains largely undisturbed,” the official said.
And while a Russian amphibious assault involving thousands of soldiers was underway west of the city of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov, the official said the assumption is that those forces are bound for the Donbas region, which is a pro-Russian area where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting the Ukrainian forces for months.
“Contrary to great Russian claims, and indeed President Putin’s sort of vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause, he’s got that completely wrong, and the Russian army has failed to deliver, on Day One, its main objective,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.
Wallace’s assessment came as the outskirts of Kyiv were being pounded by Russian missile strikes and machine guns were being handed out to civilians preparing to defend their city from the invaders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has shed his tailored suits and is now dressed for battle in hunting gear, has refused to leave Kyiv and has been pleading for Western governments to take tougher measures against Moscow.
“I think they are going to fight,” James Stavridis, a retired Navy admiral and former top NATO commander, said of the Ukrainians on NBC’s “TODAY.” “The government in Kyiv has handed out 18,000 rifles to the populace. They are restricting all men age 18 to 60 from leaving the country. Clearly Zelenskyy, he’s out of his suit. He’s wearing his hunting gear. This is going to be a tough fight for the Russians.”
Wallace agreed.
“It’s definitely our view that the Russians intend to invade the whole of Ukraine,” Wallace told Britain’s Sky News, adding that Moscow is already “behind its hoped for timetable” and has lost more than 450 personnel.
The Ukrainian Department of Defense claims the Russians have suffered 800 casualties, a figure Moscow disputes.
NBC News has not confirmed the numbers of any injuries or deaths on either side.
Putin insisted his military is winning the war and continued to cast the biggest European invasion since World War II as a defensive measure.
“Our soldiers are successfully fulfilling the task of protecting our people and our Fatherland,” he told Russian media.
UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT (Anatoli Stepanov / AFP via Getty Images)
Igor Konashenkov, chief spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, insisted Russian forces were racking up victories across Ukraine, but especially in the the pro-Russian Donetsk and Luhansk enclaves in the eastern corners of the country.
Konachenkov said the Ukrainian army has not figured in the fighting over there and “only battalions of Ukrainian Nazis offer fierce resistance.”
The Russians have, for months, been peddling bogus accusations of Nazi elements within Ukraine to justify an attack on the country.
“You know who the Nazis are here, it’s the Russians,” Petraeus said. “And this is the way the Ukrainians will regard them, the way that occupied countries regarded the Nazis, again, during World War II.”
Both Putin and Konachenkov also attempted again to push the false claim that Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s embattled president, who is Jewishand lost three family members in the Holocaust, was using Ukrainians as “human shields.”
“I am addressing the Ukrainian citizens,” Konachenkov said. “Your nationalist leadership uses the same methods the terrorists do. They wish to use you as a human shield.”
Konachenkov also insisted that the “Russian armed forces will not carry out any strikes against the residential areas of the Ukrainian capital.”
But already footage has emerged of residential apartment buildings in Kyiv that had been hit by what appeared to be missile strikes. And thousands of residents have already been hiding in shelters and in subway stations, their sleep made impossible by fear and the wailing of warning sirens.
“Currently, Kyiv is being under attack from the north and south,” Veronika Melkozerova, executive editor of The New Voice of Ukraine, said on MSNBC. “Every Ukrainian is going to fight, and it is not going to be an easy ride for Russia.”
Petraeus said Zelenskyy and his countrymen have made believers out of the doubters who questioned whether Ukraine would have the will to fight Putin’s forces.
“We’ve got answers to that,” Petraeus said. “They will fight, and by the way, it appears that the citizenry is determined to fight as well.”
Ukraine says it has inflicted one of Russia’s heaviest ever day of losses with more than 1,000 casualties: Putin’s losses now stand at 2,800 troops, 80 tanks and 516 armored vehicles as fight-back continues
Ukrainian forces claimed on Friday to have destroyed part of an airfield in south Russia in missile strike Friday
Kyiv’s forces have shot out seven Russian helicopters, destroyed at least 80 tanks, blitzed up to 10 fighter jets
Ukraine military far inferior to its Russian counterpart with an air defence system dating back to the Soviet era
NATO and US have made it clear that no troops will be sent and left Ukraine military to hold off assault alone
By Lauren Lewis, for mail online – February 25, 2022
Ukrainian forces claimed today to have inflicted one of Russia’s heaviest ever day of losses with more than 1,000 casualties.
It comes as new totals by Kyiv’s defense ministry put President Vladimir Putin’s losses at 2,800 troops, 80 tanks, 516 armored vehicles, 10 airplanes and seven helicopters.
Russian officials have made similar claims – that Moscow has captured more than 160 troops; destroyed 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities; downed five fighter jets and one helicopter; and destroyed 18 tanks and other armored vehicles.
Meanwhile Ukrainian forces earlier today claimed to have hit an airfield in Millerovo in Rostov, southern Russia, destroying at least one of Moscow’s Su-30SM fighter jets.
Footage posted online purported to show the tail end of a missile strike on the Russian military’s airbase around 10am local time (8am GMT) with several buildings on the site engulfed in flames.
At least 37 Ukrainians, among them several civilians, have been killed and hundreds more injured in fighting in the past 24 hours.
Russian troops were by this afternoon bearing down on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv after advancing from Chernobyl, less than 60 miles north of the city, this morning.
Ukrainian troops tasked with the city’s defence began setting up defensive positions across highways, on bridges and on street corners in preparation for what seemed set become a bloody street-to-street fight over the weekend.
Kyiv’s military, which was left to face Moscow alone after NATO and the US confirmed they would not put boots in the ground, is far inferior to its Russian counterpart with an air defense system and air force dating back to the Soviet era.
Few expect Ukraine to emerge victorious from what is almost certain to be a prolonged, bloody, and vicious war – but so far, Kyiv’s forces have managed to inflict heavy losses on Putin’s troops.
Footage posted online purports to show the tail end of a missile strike on the Russian military’s airbase around 10am local time (8am GMT) with several buildings on the site engulfed in flames
Ukrainian forces claimed on Friday to have destroyed part of an airfield in Millerovo in southern Russia, destroying several of Moscow’s fighter jets Explosion seen at an airbase in Russia’s Rostov region
Flaming wreckage is seen falling from the skies over Kyiv, as Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet
Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian jet over the outskirts of Kyiv overnight, with wreckage falling on a house and leaving several people injured
Helicopters, jets and planes
Ukrainian forces downed a Russian fighter jet over Kyiv early on Friday and later hit an airfield in Millerovo in Rostov, southern Russia, destroying at least one Su-30SM around 10am local time (8am GMT).
Meanwhile by late Thursday forces had claimed to have shot down at least six helicopters, including four Russian KA-52 Alligator attack helicopters during a battle for Gostomel air base on Thursday. A fifth helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing at the field under heavy fire.
Just after midday on Thursday, the skies over Kyiv swarmed with a squadron of 20 Russian helicopters which pounded the air base’s runway.
But Ukrainian ground forces launched a fight-back, moving in to retake the air field as jets streaking over the city, shooting down the Russian helicopters.
The attack underlined just how close the invaders were to the capital. Soon after, the distant roar of fighter jets high above the city stoked another wave of panic.
The Ukrainians also reported their MiG jets shot down at least one Mi-8 helicopter.
Ukrainian forces also claimed to have shot down six Russian jets sky over the eastern Donbass region while another plane appeared to fall from the skies near the capital.
Shortly after 7pm GMT on Tuesday, Russia’s defence ministry said a Russian Antonov An-26 transport plane carrying military equipment crashed in its southern Voronezh region near Ukraine, killing all crew members on board.
‘During a planned flight to transport military equipment, an An-26 aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces crashed,’ the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
‘The crew died,’ the statement said, without providing any details.
The defence ministry blamed equipment failure for the crash, which it said had not caused any destruction on the ground.
A defence ministry spokesman, speaking to AFP, confirmed the crash but declined to say how many crew members had been killed.
An-26 planes carry up to six crew members and up to 38 military personnel. Overall, the Ukrainian armed forces claimed to have shot down five aircraft and six helicopters.
Ukrainian forces downed a Russian fighter jet over Kyiv early on Friday (pictured, the wreckage) and later hit an airfield in Millerovo in Rostov, southern Russia, destroying at least one Su-30SM around 10am local time (8am GMT)
Firefighters attempt to extinguish the flaming wreckage of an aircraft which was shot down over Kyiv on Friday morning
By Friday morning, the battle for Kyiv had begun after fighting broke out in 20 miles from the city in the early hours before clashes were reported in a northern district just a few hours later Fiery wreckage falls over Kyiv after jet is shot down.
A Russian helicopter is shot down somewhere over Kyiv (left), while the wreckage of what appears to be a jet falls from the skies near the capital (right)
An image captured near Kyiv shows what appears to be the wreckage of a downed Russian attack helicopter with a soldier parachuting out of it (to the left of the frame)
Five helicopters were downed or destroyed in the Gostomel region, including this one which was forced to make an emergency landing under heavy fire as Ukrainian forces retook the air field Russian helicopter downed in Hostomel.
Ukrainian forces destroyed dozens of Russian tanks along the eastern and northern borders by the end of the day on Thursday, adding two more and a fighting vehicle in Trohizbenko to the tally early on Friday.
According to the country’s defence ministry, the figure was higher than 30 by the end of Thursday. They also claimed to have destroyed ‘up to’ 130 armoured combat vehicles.
Ukrainian forces put up a stiff resistance around Kharkiv where multiple Russian tanks and armoured vehicles were pictured destroyed – with bodies lying in the streets.
Later, another BMP fighting vehicle was captured, along with the crew of four Russian soldiers, in the same region in eastern Ukraine.
And around 2pm local time (12pm GMT) the Ukrainian military said troops had destroyed five armoured transport vehicles and a car during fighting at the Vistupovich-Rudnya border point between Ukraine and Belarus.
A further 15 T-72 tanks were destroyed or damaged by the Ukrainian forces using the Javelin PTRK, an American anti-tank missile, nearly Glukhov in the country’s east late this afternoon.
In other incidents, tank-busting rocket launchers donated by Britain were said to have destroyed Russian tanks, while Javelin missiles gifted by Sweden destroyed a column of enemy vehicles.
At least 15 T-72 tanks were destroyed or damaged by the Ukrainian forces using the Javelin PTRK, an American anti-tank missile, nearly Glukhov in the country’s east late this afternoon.
A BMP fighting vehicle was captured, along with four Russian soldiers, during fighting near Kharkiv, in the east of Ukraine, on Thursday morning. Tanks seen fighting in middle of traffic just outside Kharkiv.
Dozens of Russian troops have been captured by Ukrainian forces, Kyiv’s ministry of defence has claimed. Britain’s Ministry of Defence put Moscow’s losses around 450, though it was not clear if that included captured or dead soldiers.
Videos posted by the Ukrainian MoD early on Friday purported to show at least nine captured Russian soldiers.
Several Russian troops videoed by their captors have claimed they believed they were conducting training exercises in the border regions and did not know they were being sent to invade Ukraine.
The claim was echoed by the brigade commander of the 74th brigade of motorcycle rifles, believed to be a reconnaissance platoon made up of 20 to 50 soldiers, who allegedly surrendered to Ukrainian forces during fighting on Thursday.
Commander Konstantin Buynichev is said to have claimed he only learned of the invasion on Wednesday and believed they were returning home.
He allegedly said: ‘Nobody thought that we were going to kill. We were not going to fight – we were collecting information.’
The announcement of Buynichev and his troops’ capture was posted by the Ukrainian MoD with a picture of a the commander with a bandaged arm and wearing a bloodied uniform which appeared to say ‘Russian Army’.
Videos posted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence early on Friday purported to show at least nine captured Russian soldiers.
Several Russian troops videoed by their captors have claimed they believed they were conducting training exercises in the border regions and did not know they were being sent to invade Ukraine. Footage appears to show Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine.
A Russian vehicle with what appear to be corpses of Russian troops laying nearby is seen on the streets of Kyiv on Friday after fighting broke out in the suburbs
Ukrainian forces detain servicemen of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic who were captured during the Thursday morning attack on the town of Schast’ye
Servicemen from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic were captured by the Ukrainian military on Thursday morning, hours after Russia launched an invasion of the country
Ukrainian forces detain troops from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic on Thursday morning
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces later said his soldiers had captured the entire 74th brigade of motorcycle rifles. The announcement was posted with a picture of a man with a bandaged arm and bloody uniform which appeared to say ‘Russian Army’
The body of a soldier, without insignia, who the Ukrainian military claim is a Russian army serviceman killed in fighting, lies on a road outside the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine
Early Thursday, Ukrainian forces said they had captured two Russian soldiers, identified as Rafik Rakhmankulov, 19 and Mgomd Mgomdov, 26, from Kizilyurt, along with a cache of weapons and knives during fighting outside Kharkiv, in the east of Ukraine.
A further four Russian soldiers, the crew of a BMP fighting vehicle, were captured by Ukrainian forces near Luhansk on Thursday morning.
They were pictured lying face-down with their jackets pulled over their heads after being captured by Kyiv’s troops.
Ukrainian service members were also pictured on Thursday detaining troops from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic after they were captured during an attack on the town of Schast’ye in the morning.
Estimates of dead and injured were almost non-existent as of early afternoon but one Ukrainian official put the Russian death toll at around 50.
Two Russian troops – believed to be Rafik Rakhmankulov, 19 (left) and Mgomd Mgomdov, 26, from Kizilyurt (right) – have been captured by Ukrainian forces in the country’s east
Weapons and knives seized from two Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian units fighting around Kharkiv
The crew of a Russian BMP fighting vehicle are seen face-down with jackets pulled over their heads (left) after being captured by Ukrainian forces (their vehicle is pictured, right)
Russian claims
Russia claimed on Friday that more than 160 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered to Moscow’s troops.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said the troops were of ‘different security structures’, but it was not clear what this meant and the statement did not provide details.
At least 11 of the troops reportedly laid down their weapons during fighting in a city in the country’s south known to Ukrainians as Mykolaiv, and to Russians as Nikolaev.
Among the troops were at least 10 soldiers in Volnovakha in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic who were captured by pro-Russian rebels in the area.
Moscow claimed the soldiers would be ‘returned to their families’ after the situation was ‘stabilised’.
Russia has also claimed strikes launched by its military yesterday had destroyed 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities, 11 airfields, three command posts and 18 radar stations controlling Kyiv’s anti-aircraft batteries.
Later reports claimed Moscow had downed one of Ukraine’s helicopters, five fighter jets and five drone aircraft and destroyed 18 tanks and other armored vehicles, seven flashlight jet systems, 41 units of special military vehicle equipment and five warships.
Among the troops were at least 10 soldiers (pictured) in Volnovakha in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic who were captured by pro-Russian rebels in the area
A destroyed Ukrainian military convoy is seen on the streets of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, after apparently being ambushed by Russian special forces operating in the city
A Russian plane crashed near Voronezh on Thursday in what is believed to have been a technical failure. All those on board perished – it is unclear how many
Scroll back up to restore default view.
