A large contingent of Russian troops, presumably the one that entered Ukrainian territory this morning from Belarus, has taken the Antonov airport, located 25 kilometers northwest of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, several Russian media report. According to the same sources, shortly after, Russian military transport planes packed with soldiers landed. CNN’s envoy to Antonov shows the moment when the military sent by Moscow take up positions along the entire perimeter of the airport.
So it will be a matter of minutes before the Russian Army enters Kiev. In the office of the Ukrainian Presidency they do not rule out that the Kremlin has planned an operation to arrest or even eliminate President Volodímir Zelenski. The journalists who were there today were evicted from the presidential building. Zelensky’s whereabouts have not been released.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Kiev, Vladimir Klichkó, has decreed a curfew in the city as of today. Air warning sirens sounded several times today as the sky was streaked by Russian aircraft. Many people have taken refuge in the subway just as the inhabitants of Kharkov are doing.
The same group of Russian troops from Belarus, according to the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of the Interior, Anton Geráshenko, “have tried to take over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant”, located almost halfway between the Belarusian border and the Ukrainian capital. In his words, “if as a result of the bombs the atomic waste warehouse is damaged, radioactive dust could cover the whole of Ukraine, Belarus and the countries of the European Union.”
Neutralized 74 land facilities
According to the part released by the Russian Defense Ministry, the attacks by its units in Ukraine “have neutralized 74 ground military infrastructure facilities, including 11 Air Force airfields, 3 command posts, a naval base and 18 radar stations” that control the firing of anti-aircraft missiles. The note indicates that a combat helicopter and four Bayraktar attack drones were also shot down. The military department also acknowledges the loss of a Russian Su-25 plane due to “pilot error”, which managed to catapult itself and “is safe”.
The Reuters agency reports that Ukrainian troops have lost control of the entire southern part of the Ukrainian region of Kherson after, according to various reports, a Russian armored division from Crimea arrived in the area. According to the Ukrainian Ministry, “heavy fighting is taking place in the vicinity of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Kharkov.” Also in Mariupol and Schastie.
In its statement it is ensured that they have managed to destroy the Russians “at least six planes, two helicopters and dozens of armored vehicles.” Aleksei Arestovich, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, confirmed the death of 40 Ukrainian soldiers so far.
The Donbass rebels, who announced in the morning that they had ended the evacuation of civilians to Russia, claim to have seized the towns of Schastie and Stanitsa Luganska from Ukrainian forces.
Zelensky announced this morning during a press conference the rupture of diplomatic relations with Moscow, assured that “Russia has attacked Ukraine in the same way that Nazi Germany did during World War II” and urged the Russian population to demonstrate against from the war. Concentrations and pickets of greater or lesser incidence are taking place throughout the day in Moscow, in the central Pushkin Square, in Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and in many other cities of the country. Numerous Russian artists, TV presenters, journalists and bloggers today have spoken out openly against the attack on Ukraine ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.