Russian invasion of Ukraine: tanks and rocket attacks on the cities. Breaking news
Early in the morning of February 24, 2022, Russia launched missile strikes on the territory of Ukraine and launched a direct full-scale invasion. Ukraine repulses the enemy. As of April 28, 2022, more than 22800 russian servicemen, thousands of units of military equipment (187 planes, 155 helicopters, 970 tanks, 2389 armored vehicles, 1688 machines, 582 artillery / rocket artillery systems, 8 ships and more) have been eliminated.
The State Special Communication Service of Ukraine: fighters from Belarus have flown out in the Ukrainian direction.
Head of the delegation going to negotiate with Russia in Gomel (Belarus), Davyd Arakhamia, on the Ukrainian diplomacy mood: "The negotiations will go either in the Ukrainian direction or like the Russian military ship."
Summary from the General Staff as of 00:00. In Polissia, North Ukraine, the invaders are trying to attack Kyiv again. For this purpose they have made a pontoon bridge across Irpin near Demidov. A dense system of defense is organized in the capital. The defenders are fighting a small number of subversive reconnaisance units, consisting of 3-15 people. The saboteurs are wearing the uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but they have Russian body armor. The Russians did not succeed in capturing Irpin city: the enemy's equipment was destroyed. Ukrainian defenders keep fighting back at all designated positions in the country. The Russians are attacking military and civilian airfields, air defense forces, cities and critical infrastructure from the air and on the ground. Our air forces keep repulsing the air strikes.
Russian invaders want to use the residents of Kherson as a living shield to capture Ukrainian cities, Kherson Regional State Administration reports. The occupying forces has taken possession of Ukrainian military uniforms and now they are planning to disguise themselves as the Territorial Defence Forces to “evacuate” the Kherson residents within the next couple of days.
“They want to gather civilians in their buses and depart for Kyiv, keeping their military machinery close to them”, officials said.
Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klychko denied the Russian propaganda media fake news that the capital is allegedly surrounded and it is impossible to evacuate people.
"Russia continues to fight against Ukraine not only with weapons. There is also information war. They create fake pages of the representatives of the authorities, manipulate information, create some legends. Today they created a clone of my Instagram page", Klitschko said.
He asked not to believe Russian media, and to use only Ukrainian official sources.
Aeroflot, a Russian airline, suspends flights to Europe starting February 28, Interfax reports. The decision is made in view of the “airspace restrictions imposed by the European authorities.”
As reported earlier, the European Union shuts down its airspace for all Russian planes, including private jets.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated that Ukraine is "one of us, and we want them in the European Union".
On 27 February, Russian occupiers fired the missiles at Kyiv, a representative of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Oleksiy Arestovych, told at the briefing. According to him, three missiles were fired at the capital. "One was shot down, the second hit Sofiivska Borshchahivka, the location of the third is unknown," Arestovych said.
Vyacheslav Markhaev, a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and deputy of the illegitimate State Duma sitting for the Republic of Buryatia, condemned Putin for waging war against Ukraine, accusing him of using the recognition of terrorists on Donbas to launch a full-on war on Ukraine. He wrote about this in his probably last-ever post on Facebook.
“I condemn the West for their unjustified strategy, the policy of double standards, and pushing their interests through coups d'état in disagreeable countries, and seizure of territory under the guise of protecting democracy. Also, I condemn the Russian leadership for resorting to the same double-standard methods and using the recognition of DPR and LPR to disguise the plans to unleash a full-on war against our nearest neighbor,” the deputy wrote.
He is convinced that “neither Russian nor Ukrainian people need a war like this. Every nation, every people needs to have a right for self-determination, for freedom of choice.”
To recap, it was the Communist Party, and not United Russia, that Putin used to “legitimize” invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian media company TAVR Media closed radiostation Russian Radio in Ukraine. According to the official statement, in 2014 they did not change the name of the radio station, since they wanted to maintain an information bridge with the occupied territories.
“We knew that our station had audience in the east and south of Ukraine, and especially in Ukraine’s occupied territories, including Crimea. So it was a way for us to convey the pro-Ukrainian and nationally significant information to those people through familiar communication channels. Today, the bridges were burnt. After the marathon, a new radio station will go on the air,” TAVR Media reports.
The website of The Russian Radio has been taken down.
On February, 27, in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military air forces destroyed six convoys of the Russian occupants’ military machinery and downed an enemy helicopter and a combat drone.
At night, the invaders hit Mykolaiv International Airport with a missile strike. The Head of Mykolaiv Regional State Administration Vitalii Kim confirmed this, NSDC’s Center for Countering Disinformation reports.
According to preliminary data, the Russian military struck the airport three times, damaging the runway and parking apron.
Today, the Meta corporation has blocked on the territory of Ukraine Instagram and Facebook pages of Andrii Sharii, who has recently been accused of treason, NSDC’s Center for Countering Disinformation reports.
“We thank the Meta corporation for supporting Ukraine’s information security and the collective fight against misinformation and dissemination of fake news and enemy narratives,” the announcement reads.
The US embassy in Russia advises Americans to consider leaving “immediately”.
“An increasing number of airlines are canceling flights into and out of Russia, and numerous countries have closed their airspace to Russian airlines. US citizens should consider departing Russia immediately via commercial options still available,” the embassy said in its advisory.
The US embassy also reminded US citizens that the Department of State’s Travel Advisory level for Russia is at “Level 4: Do Not Travel”.
Berdyansk mayor Oleksandr Svidlo said that the city is being temporarily occupied by Russians.
He reported that Russian military equipment had entered the city in the morning.
According to the mayor, armed occupants entered the executive committee building and said that all administrative buildings in Berdyansk were under their control and that they were also taking control of the executive committee building.
"We were asked to continue our work, but under the control of armed men. I think this proposal is unacceptable, so we have left the executive committee building with all our staff, but we continue to coordinate the work of the operational headquarters remotely," the mayor said.
“Extended” curfew in Kyiv shall end at 8 am on Monday. From then on, the previous curfew shall be restored.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian occupiers, 352 civilians have been killed, including 14 children. 1,684 people have been wounded, including 116 children.
Russian tourists flying (or not) to Hurghada enjoy European sanctions.
Prosecutor-General Irina Venediktova said that Facebook deleted her post about how two Russian citizens came to the police in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv Region, and asked for petrol, and the Ukrainian police "tucked them in".
"As it turned out, there were many complaints from the Russian Federation about this post, and the FB administration decided to delete it. I am writing to inform you that I did not delete the post. The information was correct and verified," Venediktova wrote.
Tomorrow, France will submit a resolution to the United Nations Security Council calling for “unhindered humanitarian access” in Ukraine as well as a ceasefire, the Elysée Palace said. The resolution will aim to “guarantee unhindered humanitarian access to meet the urgent needs of the population in Ukraine.” (CNN)
The EU commits to take in Ukrainian refugees for up to three years without requiring them to submit asylum requests in advance (SkyNews).
TALKS BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA TO START IN SEVERAL HOURS
The Ukrainian delegation is on their way, Ukrainian president's press secretary Serhiy Nikiforov told LIGA.net.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Healthcare give an update on civilian casualties of Russian aggression as of February 27
Perished:
352 people
including 14 children
Injured:
1,684 people
including 116 children
Dmytro Kuleba, minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine, addresses the Russians. “In Russian for the first time, so you could share this video with your followers from Russia,” he says.
Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram
FIFA has banned the usage of the Russian flag and anthem in international matches involving teams from the Russian Football Union, and has banned national football matches in Russia. The Russian national team will play home games on a neutral field and without spectators.
Global express shipping companies FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) have suspended shipments into Russia amid the country's invasion of Ukraine, The Washington Times reports.
Operational update as of 18:00 February 27 on the Russian invasion
The Russian Federation continues to accumulate aviation equipment and activate special forces on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. More than 50 aircraft, 10 helicopters and two An-124s are concentrated at the Machulishchi airfield. Transport planes are constantly taking off from the Baranovichi and Machulishchi airfields in the direction of Ukraine.
The Belarusian command has put some of its units on alert.
While conducting an offensive in Ukraine, Russian occupiers use methods of warfare prohibited by International Humanitarian Law: they seize social infrastructure, don the uniforms of Ukrainian military, police and representatives of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine; sabotage groups of special forces use ambulances and police cars stolen from hospitals and ambulance stations; terrorists occupy premises of children's camps and schools; artillery and rocket launchers.
Three ambulances with the invaders' conventional markings were spotted in Kyiv. The Russian occupiers deployed MSTA-C artillery units in a residential area in the Genicheskiy district of Kherson Region. In the Makarov-Kyiv direction, a convoy whose armoured vehicles the enemy has placed children and women on to provide cover.
At the same time, the moral and psychological state of the occupying troops is low. Near Koryukivka in Chernihiv Region, conscripts of the Russian Armed Forces are ready to lay down their arms and surrender.
Hundreds of decommissioned armoured vehicles and tanks across Ukraine are abandoned along the roads.
As of 18:00, the enemy's personnel losses stood at around 4,500.
Destroyed and damaged 27 aircraft (to be specified), 26 helicopters, about 150 tanks, more than 700 MBMs, about 50 guns, one BUK SAM, four BM-21 Grad MLRSs, 60 tanks, 2 UAVs, 2 ships and boats.
There will be more. The calculation is complicated by the high intensity of military actions."
Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko has addressed the people of Kyiv.
Friends! Dear People of Kyiv! Tonight is going to be difficult again. That is why our defenders are preparing to defend the capital.
And I urge the people of Kyiv to spend this night taking cover. For the enemy is getting satanic. Shooting down peaceful homes. Continues to destroy our infrastructure. Although he himself is suffering great losses, both human and military.
Because it seems that the Russians did not expect such a repulse and such spirit of Ukrainian people. Both military and civilians.
Our soldiers are fighting heroically. All over Ukraine. Our people are rallying to defend their state. The horde is also trying to break into Kyiv. But our people are preparing to fight back the aggressor.
Today I have been to the fortifications, which the citizens of Kyiv help to build for the terror defenders. To prevent enemy troops from entering our city. I want to support the Ukrainian fighters and thank the residents of Irpen, Vorzel, Bucha and Gostomel for their endurance. Where fierce battles continue, because the enemy is tearing towards Kyiv. Hold on! Together we will make it through!
The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine explains the difference between types of sirens.
"Despite the fact that we had already been living with them for the last four days, a lot of Ukrainians still believed fakes about "training sirens," the Center wrote.
There are currently two types of sirens:
- an intermittent signal "Attention to All" means that it is necessary to turn on the TV or radio receiver and then follow instructions.
- an unintermittent one points at the air-raid alert meaning that you should immediately run to the shelter and stay there until the situation won't normalize.
"There can be no training sirens now," the Center noted.
Russian propagandists had prepared articles about the victory over Ukraine in advance, and one of them was inadvertently published. Of course, the text was quickly removed, but it remained in the Web archive. the articles are recommended for researchers as a case of severe political deviations from reality to be studied.
The US and NATO have condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to put its strategic deterrence forces on special alert as dangerous and unacceptable, and the White House said it did not rule out new sanctions against Russia's energy sector
FIFA has banned the use of the Russian flag and anthem in international matches involving teams of the Russian Football Union and also banned national team football matches in Russia. The Russian national team will play home matches on a neutral pitch and without spectators.
The English Football Association has said that "to show our solidarity with Ukraine and in order to sincerely condemn the atrocities committed by the Russian leadership, we will not play against Russia in any international matches for the foreseeable future". (Sky News)
Roman Donik to Russian soldiers:
I am writing this post for those who we are going to kill tomorrow to understand everything as clearly as possible. We will keep killing them even the day after, and two days after, and three, until there is no one left. Until there is physically nobody there to invade Ukraine.
Russians, we are tired. However, what makes us different from you is that when we grow tired, we become a little like a wild beast. We lose empathy, compassion, and that emotional shit that consumes resources and interferes with the only important thing—killing you. We are at home. We protect our homes, our land, and our families. And we are just getting started. We are just getting in the groove. We have learned that you are just cannon fodder. A soft, tasty bun for an army that has been at war for nine years already.
Also, we have captured tons of your documentation. We have all the classified documents, complete with muster rolls and orders.
We know that you had operational tasks—these are not the drills you keep squealing about when taken captive. So, we don’t have to go easy on you anymore. Fatigue dulls the nerve endings in our brain and the neural links responsible for humanity and humanism. It’s just that our brains are going into power-saving mode. We want just to kill you as fast as possible and go have some sleep at last. After all, it is a normal and healthy need for an organism—the right to rest.
Also, we are listening in on all your communications. We know your plans. We know from where and where to you will go for fuel, and where you will try to muster your reserves. Tomorrow, we will be stronger, than today. Because our logistics are alright now. We managed to get it right and got everything we were waiting for these three days. Tomorrow, you will see. And it’ll be the last thing you see in your life. Because we know that you are not on drills. You have come here to kill us.
The Russian ship, plane, tank, soldier, and officer go fuck yourself. It is the only way you can stay alive. But I’m not that sure about that.
For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and supply of lethal weapons to a third country, Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has announced that Belgium is sending 3,000 assault rifles and 200 anti-tank grenade launchers to Ukraine.
The Swedish government will send military aid to Ukraine, including anti-tank weapons.
Journalist Yurii Butusov gives an update on the frontline situation as of 17:00 on February 27.
The Lviv Region is trying to open two new unfinished checkpoints. This was reported by the Lviv regional state administration. Because of the large number of people who want to cross the border, the Lviv Region is negotiating with the Polish side and hopes that they will be allowed to open the Zbarazh (Sokal district) and Naguevichi (Chernomorsky district) checkpoints as well. Now the Ukrainian refugee reception points operate in:
Dorogusk,
Dolgobychiv,
Zosin,
Hrebnoe,
Medyky,
Budomezh,
Krotsenko.
Belarusian musician Sergei Mikhalok recorded a video appeal to Belarusians in which he called them "cowards, traitors of the motherland" because they allowed dictator Lukashenko to use the country's territory for attacks against Ukraine. He urged the Belarusians to sabotage any orders and not to go to Ukrainian soil to fight because "you will die here". "The Ukrainian army is the strongest army in the world," Mikhalok said.
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Eyewitness accounts.
Current Time @CurrentTimeTV
"Konstantine Ryzhenko, a Kherson resident, talks about Russian soldiers abandoned in the city without commanders: “They don’t know what to do or where to go. They are often hungry and confused. Noticing groups of 2–3 people or fewer, they start aggressively demanding things, like, food".
Житель Херсона Константин Рыженко о российских военных, оставшихся без командиров и находящихся в городе:
— Настоящее Время (@CurrentTimeTv) February 27, 2022
"Они не знают, что им делать, куда идти, они часто голодные, они в растерянности. Когда в их поле зрения менее 2-3 человек, пытаются агрессивно требовать, например, еду" pic.twitter.com/YDPVxv5Va9
At the UN climate conference, the head of the Russian delegation, Oleg Anisimov, apologised for Russia's invasion of Ukraine "on behalf of all the Russians who failed to prevent this conflict", France 24 reported.
In the European Union, two Russian propaganda state channels, RT and Sputnik, and their affiliated projects, will be banned from broadcasting.
Occupiers fired rockets into central Chernihiv. 16 people were injured, the Centre for Strategic Communications has said. Residential buildings and a children's dentistry were damaged. The Youth Centre and the former Shchorsa cinema were destroyed.
The Ukrainian army has destroyed a Russian BUK near Malyn, Zhytomyr Region. Valerii Zaluzhnyi captioned the video: “Bayraktars in action”.