Russian forces take control of airfield near Kyiv, killing '200 Ukrainian troops'

The Russian Defence Ministry says its forces have taken control of the key Hostomel airfield near Kyiv, Russia's Interfax news agency reports.

It says 200 Russian helicopters and a landing force were used to seize it. It also says Kyiv is "blocked from the West".

Taking possession of the airport in Hostomel, which has a long runway allowing the landing of heavy-lift transport planes, would mean Russia can airlift troops directly to Kyiv's outskirts.

Hostomel is just 7 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of the city.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that the Russian airborne forces used 200 helicopters to land in Hostomel and killed over 200 troops belonging to Ukraine's special forces.

Konashenkov claimed that Russian troops suffered no casualties. That contradicts Ukrainian claims that Russian troops sustained heavy casualties in the fighting there.

The Russian Defence Ministry says: "The success of the landing force was ensured by suppressing all air defence systems near the landing site, full isolation of the area of military action from the air and active radio electronic warfare."

The mayor of Kyiv says the Ukrainian capital has entered into "a defensive phase"

Russian forces first arrived on the outskirts of Kyiv on Thursday when helicopter-borne troops assaulted an airfield just outside the city, close to Obolonskyi, AFP reports.

As they arrived in Obolonskyi within the city, the Ministry of Defence's Facebook page urged civilians to resist: "We urge citizens to inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails, and neutralise the enemy."

Ukraine's army said Friday that invading Russian forces are approaching Kyiv from the north and northeast.

Russian soldiers are trying to "bypass" the northern city of Chernihiv — where they were "rebuffed" by the Ukrainian army — to attack Kyiv, the army said on Facebook, adding that the troops were advancing on the capital from the eastern city of Konotop, which they now control.

Explosions and small arms fire

In Obolon, a northern district of Kyiv, pedestrians ran for safety and small arms fire and explosions were heard.

Russian forces first arrived on the outskirts of Kyiv on Thursday when helicopter-borne troops assaulted an airfield just outside the city, close to Obolon.
The Ukrainian military said it had repulsed the attack on the Hostomel airbase, but Russian ground forces have also been pushing down the west bank of the River Dnipro from Belarus.

As Russian forces arrived in Obolon, the Ukrainian defence ministry urged civilians to resist.

"We urge citizens to inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails, and neutralise the enemy," it said.

Ukraine says 137 people, including soldiers and civilians, have been killed since Russia attacked.

"Ukrainians are demonstrating heroism," Zelensky said in a video message, accusing Russia of lying about striking only military targets and calling up conscripts and reservists nationwide.

After speaking to EU chief Ursula von der Leyen he called for more sanctions, tweeting that "the pressure on Russia must increase".

Better to die

In the Ukrainian village of Starognativka near the frontline where separatists have faced off against Kyiv's forces for years, official Volodymyr Veselkin said on Friday missiles had been raining down all morning and the power was out.
"They are trying to wipe the village off the face of the earth," he said.

Olena Kurilo was among 20 people wounded by flying shards of glass following a blast in the eastern Ukrainian town of Chuguiv on Thursday.
"Never, under any conditions will I submit to Putin. It is better to die," the 52-year-old teacher said, her face covered in bandages.

The UN's refugee agency said late Thursday that some 100,000 were already displaced inside Ukraine, while thousands of others fled across the border. Streams of people in cars and on foot were seen crossing into Hungary, Poland and Romania on Thursday.

Zelensky said there was now a "new iron curtain" between Russia and the rest of the world, adding later that his nation had been "left alone".
"Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don't see anyone."

And while the United States moved to impose sanctions on Russian elites and banks, it stressed that American forces would not fight in Ukraine.
NATO said it had activated "defence plans" for allied countries but had no plan to send alliance forces into Ukraine.

War 'on all of Europe'

Among the highest-profile strategic developments on Thursday, Ukraine said Russian forces had seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant — prompting concern from international nuclear watchdogs.
Zelensky called the attack on Chernobyl "a declaration of war on all of Europe".

Russian ground forces moved into Ukraine on Thursday from the north, south and east.
In the capital, many residents fled their homes and took shelter in the city's subway system.

Russia said Thursday its forces had "successfully completed" their objectives for the day, claiming to have destroyed over 70 Ukrainian military targets, including 11 airfields.

Western intelligence confirmed Moscow had established "complete air superiority" over Ukraine.

Sanctions

Western allies had initially imposed some sanctions on Russia in an effort to deter Putin, then followed through on Thursday with vows to heavily punish Russia economically.

US President Joe Biden announced export controls against Russia to cut off more than half of the country's high-tech imports, alongside sanctions on Russian elites he called "corrupt billionaires", and banks.

He will meet Friday with fellow NATO leaders in an extraordinary virtual summit to discuss the security situation in and around Ukraine.
The EU moved to impose "massive" sanctions on Russia's energy and finance sectors.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Putin of trying to destroy Ukraine's statehood.

"This is total war. Putin has decided… to take Ukraine off the map of nations," Le Drian told France Inter radio.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the invasion was "barbaric, unjustified and shows a callous disregard for human life".
The fighting also spooked global financial markets, with oil prices soaring past $100 and a surge in the price of wheat as Russia and Ukraine are two of the world's largest producers.

Demonstrations across Europe

In a televised address, Putin justified the assault as a defence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics in eastern Ukraine.
The leaders of the two separatist territories asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv after Putin recognised their independence on Monday.
A conflict between the separatists and government forces has dragged on since 2014, killing more than 14,000 people.

Russia has also long demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from ever joining NATO and that US troops pull out from Eastern Europe.
Thousands of Russians defied tough anti-protest legislation to stage anti-war rallies across the country.

OVD-Info, which monitors arrests at opposition protests, said that more than 1,800 people in 59 cities had been detained across Russia.