Russian airborne troops have taken control of the Antonov Airport, which is about 30 kilometers away from Kiev, Ukraine.
CNN’s Matthew Chance reported Thursday: “We are here at the Antonov airport, which is about 25 kilometers, 15 miles or so out of the center. These troops you can see over here, they are Russian airborne forces,” Chance explained. Video footage showed Russian troops appearing to conduct military operations outside the airport.
“They’ve allowed us to come in and be with them as they defend the perimeter of this airbase, where the helicopter-borne troops were landed in the early hours of the morning to make and perform an air bridge to allow for more troops to come in,” he reported.
“They have taken this airport,” he said. The troops have an orange and black band on the arm of their uniforms to identify them as Russian forces, Chance added.
Breaking: @mchancecnn with Russian forces at the Antonov airport about 15 miles outside of Kyiv. "These troops you can see over here, they are Russian airborne forces. They have taken this airport" pic.twitter.com/SnvmwQ1GeA
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 24, 2022
Russian airborne troops also seized control of the Gostomel airfield. “The enemy paratroopers in Gostomel have been blocked, and troops have received an order to destroy them,” Zelensky said, in a video address.
Earlier AFP reporters had seen helicopters flying low over the city from the north and Ukraine’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhny, had confirmed: “Fighting is underway for Gostomel airfield.”
The Gostomel airfield, which is alongside the Antonov airport, is immediately on the northern edge of Kiev, and the fighting there is the closest that Russian forces had got to the Ukrainian capital on the first day of their invasion.
The Ukrainian government conceded that it had also lost control of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the surrounding area, known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Russian military forces have captured the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant after Ukraine’s president issued a warning that the Russians were attempting to seize control.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president, said the plant had been captured, adding that it was “impossible to say the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe,” Reuters reported. Podolyak’s statement came hours after Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted that “Russian occupation forces” were trying to seize control of the nuclear plant.
A top Kremlin spokesman told reporters on Thursday that Russia would consider ending its military action if the Ukrainian government accepted terms of surrender, which included the removal of all weapons from the country.
Russia recognized Russian Donbas Republics in Donetsk and Luhansk as sovereign countries on Monday, during a speech in which he insisted Ukraine was completely created by Russia and had no tradition of being a country.
As of Thursday afternoon Eastern time, the Russian invasion had resulted in Russian soldiers occupying Ukraine’s Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was willing to end its violence against Ukraine if the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky accepted Russia’s terms of surrender.
“According to Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his preparedness to engage in discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart, with a focus on obtaining a guarantee of neutral status and the promise of no weapons on its territory,” RT reported. “These are terms that, according to Peskov, would enable the achievement of the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, and eliminate what Russia currently views as a threat to the security of its state and people.”
Peskov reportedly demanded of Ukraine “neutral status and … a refusal to deploy weapons.”
NBC’s Richard Engel reports that Russia has offered terms to Ukraine in return for Russia ceasing its military operations. According to Engel, Russia will end hostilities if Ukraine agrees to become a neutral state and will agree to forbid deployment of foreign weapons inside Ukraine.
Moscow is willing to negotiate terms of surrender with kyiv, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
In exchange Ukraine would: a guarantee of neutral status and the promise of no weapons on its territory. Per RT.— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) February 24, 2022
The Russian Defense Ministry dismissed all claims out of the Ukrainian armed forces as false, and specifically denied reports of losses of Russian aircraft and armored vehicles. The Russian news agency Tass confirmed the Russian military lost at least one aircraft, a Su-25 striker, but claimed it was lost “due to a piloting mistake,” not a Ukrainian offensive.
The Russian government claimed it had eliminated over 70 Ukrainian infrastructure facilities by Thursday evening local time.
“As a result of the strikes conducted by Russia’s Armed Forces, 74 ground facilities of Ukraine’s military infrastructure were knocked out of action,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed. “Among them are 11 airfields belonging to the Air Force, three command points, a Ukrainian Navy base and 18 radar stations of S-300 and Buk-M1 missile systems.”
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
President Putin’s Appeal To The Ukrainian Armed Forces Is Very Compelling – Andrew Korybko OneWorld