War in Ukraine: Russia fires on Kiev - Klitschko speaks up

Created: 02/26/2022, 10:20 am

By: Tobias Utz, Lukas Rogalla, Johannes Nuß, Katja Thorwarth, Marvin Ziegele, Stefan Krieger

In the war with Ukraine, Russia keeps advancing.

The battle for Kiev begins.

All news in our live ticker.

• There is a war between Russia* and Ukraine*.

• US President Joe Biden * reacts like the European Union with sanctions against Russia.

  NATO* is increasing its troop presence in Eastern Europe and Germany

• According to his own statements, Vladimir Putin* is still willing to negotiate.

  At the same time, the battle for Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, begins.

• We inform you about the current situation in the Ukraine conflict in the news ticker.

>>> Update news ticker <<<

+++ 10.00 a.m

.: According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, dozens of people were injured in the night attacks by Russian troops on Kiev.

A total of 35 people were injured by 6 a.m. local time, including two children.

It was unclear whether he was referring to civilians.

In addition, Klitschko said that there is currently no major Russian military presence in Kiev, but that saboteur groups are active.

In the Telegram clip, he called on the people to get to safety and emphasized: "The enemy is trying to penetrate the city." 

Ukraine conflict: Rocket hits block of flats in Kiev

+++ 9.10 a.m .:

A skyscraper in the capital Kiev was hit in heavy attacks by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Images of the skyscraper clearly showed an impact on the upper floors.

At least four floors on one side of the house were destroyed.

Smoke rose.

A rocket hit the building between the 18th and 21st floors, the civil protection authority said.

The evacuation of residents is "underway".

Information on possible victims was initially not available.

Soldiers of Ukraine in Kiev.

The capital is attacked by Russia.

© Sergei Supinsky/afp

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba published a photo of the high-rise building hit on Twitter.

"Kiev, our beautiful, peaceful city has survived another night of Russian ground forces and missile attacks," he wrote.

"I urge the world: isolate Russia completely, expel ambassadors, oil embargo, destroy the Russian economy," Kuleba wrote.

"Stop Russian war criminals!" Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko also declared that the building had been hit by a rocket.

Ukraine conflict: Melitopol taken by Russia

+++ 8.45 a.m .:

According to its own statements, Russia has taken the city of Melitopol in southern Ukraine.

The Russian army has taken "complete control" of the city not far from the Crimean Peninsula.

This was announced by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov on Russian television.

The city is located near the Sea of ​​Azov.

In addition, Moscow fired at Ukrainian military installations with cruise missiles during the night.

According to the spokesman, the Ukrainian military installations were attacked "with air and sea-launched cruise missiles".

These are long-range precision weapons.

Ukraine conflict: Selenskyj reports from Kiev

+++ 7.55 a.m

.: The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj has reported in a new video from the capital Kiev and declared war on Russia.

The Ukrainian army will not lay down its arms, it will defend itself, the head of state said on the street in Kiev on Saturday.

He wished "good morning to everyone," he said with a smile.

+++ 7.15 a.m .:

Kiev is now considered completely surrounded.

The US news channel CNN reports fighting in all outskirts of the city.

In the west of the capital, Russia is said to meet great resistance when invading Ukraine.

According to several media outlets, at least one tank belonging to the Russian troops was destroyed by the Ukrainian army's shelling.

+++ 6.10 a.m .:

Russia’s attack on Kiev is underway.

The first fights are already being reported from parts of the Ukrainian capital.

There are said to have been several explosions.

Russian tanks are said to be advancing, especially in the east and south of the city.

Fighting is also being reported from the north.

According to individual journalists who mainly report from Kiev via Twitter, Russian special troops are said to have already penetrated the center of Kiev.

At the same time, Radio Free Europa, among others, reports that the residents of Kiev are preparing for a street fight with Russian troops.

The population "carries AK-47 rifles and, in one case, a bazooka," the broadcaster said.

Ukraine conflict: Attack on Kiev in progress

+++ 4:52 a.m .:

Russian troops shot at a barracks of the Ukrainian armed forces in the west of Kiev on Saturday night.

This was announced by the Ukrainian army.

The attack was repulsed.

The barracks are about seven kilometers from the center of the metropolis.

Photos showed bright firelight over the scene of the fighting.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard in videos shared on social networks.

+++ 04:28:

According to its own statements, the Ukrainian army repelled an attack by Russian forces on one of its positions in the capital Kiev.

The night attack was aimed at a post on the Kiev Victory Road, the Ukrainian land forces said on Saturday night on their Facebook page.

The Victory Street is a main artery of the capital.

The army did not provide any further information about the location of the fighting.

Ukraine conflict: Military announced shooting down of a Russian helicopter and fighter plane

Loud explosions could be heard in central Kiev early Saturday morning, an AFP journalist reported.

In another statement, the army said "heavy fighting" was ongoing in the town of Vasylkiv, south of Kiev.

Russia is trying to "land paratroopers" there.

The military also announced the shooting down of a Russian helicopter and a SU-25 fighter jet around midnight, and the destruction of an IL-76 military transport plane.

A confirmation of the losses by the Russian Ministry of Defense was initially not available.

+++ 2:49 a.m .:

Shots and fights were reported from the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kiev on Saturday night.

Russian troops attempted to attack thermal power station No. 6, an agency communications office said.

The Ukrainian army is defending itself.

The power plant is located in the extreme north-east of the megacity on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

There were also reports of explosions and automatic weapon fire from other locations on the right bank.

Ukraine conflict: armed forces report fighting south of the capital

+++ 1:45 a.m .:

Ukrainian armed forces report fierce fighting around the city of Vasylkiv, about 30 kilometers from the capital Kiev.

"Heavy fighting is currently taking place in the city of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region, where the occupiers are attempting to land a landing party," the armed forces said. Russian forces are also advancing on Kyiv from the north and east

+++ 01:34 a.m .:

A series of explosions are currently shaking Kiev.

As reported by CNN, the explosions could be heard on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kiev.

It's just after 2:30 local time in Ukraine.

The exact nature and location of the detonations are not yet clear.

Ukraine conflict: Russian troops suffer casualties

+++ 1:01 am:

The Ukrainian armed forces claim to have shot down a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft.

Russian paratroopers were on board, wrote the Ukrainian chief of staff Valery Saluschnyj on Twitter on Saturday night.

He named the city of Wassylkiv south of the capital Kiev as the crash site.

The information was not independently verifiable.

The Ukrainian Air Force Command announced that the Russian army was trying to drop parachute troops in Vasylkiv.

There are heavy fights.

+++ 12:33 a.m .:

Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria blocked their respective airspace for Russian airlines on Saturday night in view of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

The Polish government said the ban would come into effect at midnight.

The Czech Minister of Transport, Martin Kupka, said that no Russian aircraft would be allowed to cross his country after midnight.

Ukraine conflict: Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria block airspace for Russian aircraft

Russian aircraft "are no longer allowed to fly into Bulgaria's sovereign airspace, not even over its sovereign waters," said the Ministry of Transport in Sofia.

The measure went into effect at midnight.

The Polish airline LOT announced that it had suspended its flights to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Great Britain had already closed its airspace to the Russian airline Aeroflot on Thursday.

Moldova also banned Russian aircraft from its airspace on Thursday.

Update from Saturday, February 26, 12:17 a.m .:

As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in a video speech, Russian forces are said to be approaching the capital Kiev.

They advanced from the north and east.

“Our main goal is to end this slaughter.

The enemy losses are very heavy - today there were hundreds of killed soldiers who crossed our border and came into our country."

Ukraine conflict: Russian forces advance on Kiev from north and east

Zelenskyi added: “Unfortunately, we also suffer casualties.

Ukrainians are heroically resisting Russian aggression.

This aggression is unjustifiable, so the occupiers have to come up with more absurd accusations in order to at least say something.” Russian forces are now near the capital Kiev after capturing an airbase north of the city on Thursday.

They are also advancing on two routes from the north and at least one from the east, reports CNN.

+++ 11:46 p.m .:

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj expects the Russian army to attack Kiev in the night from Friday to Saturday.

Selenskyj said this in a speech late on Friday evening and once again called on the population to defend the Ukrainian capital.

"The fate of the country is being decided right now," said Zelenskyy.

Ukraine conflict: Increased radiation levels measured in Chernobyl

+++ Update, Friday, 10:50 p.m .:

After the Russian army captured the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear facility, increased radiation levels were measured there, according to Ukraine.

An "increase in the indicators above the control levels" was detected in the exclusion zone on Friday morning, Alexander Grigorach from the Ukrainian nuclear supervisory authority told the AFP news agency.

He could not provide any further details as the plant's personnel had been evacuated.

The Ukrainian parliament stated that increased gamma radiation had been registered at several measuring points in the exclusion zone, but without naming exact values.

Due to the occupation of the facility by the Russian army, it is currently not possible to determine the reasons for the change.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) classified the radiation levels reported by Ukraine's nuclear regulator as low.

They are therefore within the values ​​that have been measured around the nuclear ruins since the exclusion zone was set up.

Therefore there is no risk.

The IAEA suspects the increased radiation levels may have been caused by heavy military vehicles churning up the still-contaminated soil.

The Russian military took control of the destroyed nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine on Thursday after fighting with Ukrainian government troops.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry rejected the information from Kiev on Friday and said the radiation levels were in the "normal" range.

36 years after the nuclear disaster, the area around Chernobyl is still radioactively contaminated.

Ukraine conflict: Russia fires missiles in Odessa region

First report :

Moscow/Kiev – Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine on Thursday morning (02/24/2022).

Within a few hours, the Russian armed forces advanced to the greater Kiev area.

According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops captured a military airfield near the capital and the Chernobyl nuclear reactor after fierce fighting.

According to Ukrainian sources, dozens of people were killed, including many civilians.

(skr/tu/ktho/marv/lrg with dpa/AFP)