Attack on Ukraine: Chernobyl NPP under Russian control

According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian military has taken control of areas in the south of the country and the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Russian paratroopers are said to have landed near the capital Kiev.

According to their own statements, the Ukrainian authorities lost control of parts of the south of the country after Russian troops invaded. This was announced by the regional administration of the Kherson region. Accordingly, 13 civilians and nine Ukrainian soldiers were killed there. Two children were among the civilian casualties. The Henichesk region is also no longer under Ukrainian control. This information could not be independently verified.

In addition, Russian troops took over the area around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear reactor, 70 kilometers from Kiev. They controlled the so-called exclusion zone and all facilities of the nuclear ruins, said the Ukrainian prime minister. It is unclear what condition the facility is in. The accident reactor can therefore no longer be regarded as safe, it is “one of the most serious threats to Europe”.

Dozens dead

According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has carried out more than 30 attacks with aircraft, artillery and cruise missiles “on Ukrainian civil and military infrastructure”. At least 57 people are said to have been killed and around 170 injured. This information could not be independently verified. Ukraine’s border police said there was fighting almost everywhere in the country.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had previously spoken of Russian attacks from various directions with air and missile attacks, ground troops and special forces. Apparently Russia is attacking in a kind of “pincer formation”, with attacks coming from southern Crimea, from Russian territory in the east and from Belarusian territory, where tens of thousands of Russian troops are stationed.

Air alert in Kiev

There was also heavy fighting in the region around the capital Kiev. According to Ukrainian sources, Russian helicopters and planes are dropping paratroopers at Hostomel military airport. 20 machines are involved in the operation. The airport is around 25 kilometers from the city. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian parachutists could drop over Kiev and try to enter the government quarter.

The capital’s administration triggered an air raid warning of the attack and imposed a night-time curfew. All citizens were called upon to get to safety in bunkers if possible. Four metro stations have been designated as air raid shelters. The subway should remain in operation, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Kiev has about 2.8 million inhabitants.

The general staff said the enemy had been stopped in the Chernihiv region, which borders Belarus to the north-west. “Heavy fighting continues towards Kharkiv.” The city of Kharkiv is located in the east not far from the Russian border. Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov was “brought back under full control”. Looking at the south of the country, the military said: “The situation in Cherson is difficult.” The Russian army is also launching offensives from Crimea, which was annexed by Ukraine in 2014, towards Cherson and Melitopol.

Moscow: Dozens of military positions destroyed

Russia says it has attacked dozens of Ukrainian military positions. 74 ground infrastructure objects were disabled, Moscow Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, according to the Interfax agency. Among them were eleven airfields, three command posts and a naval base. In addition, 18 radar stations of the surface-to-air missile defense systems S-300 and Buk-M1 were destroyed.

According to Moscow, at least one combat helicopter and several combat drones were also shot down. Ukraine also reports shooting down several Russian helicopters and planes.

Attack at dawn – on Putin’s orders

According to the dpa news agency, the pro-Russian separatists are reporting the capture of two small towns. These are Stanytsia Luhanska and Shchastya. Fighters from their ranks were also killed. There are dead and injured among the armed forces, but also among the civilian population, said the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Puschilin, on Russian state television.

The Russian army began militarily attacking Ukraine early in the morning. Russian President Vladimir Putin had authorized the military action. The Kremlin chief warned other states not to stand in Russia’s way. This would have consequences they had never experienced before.

Selenskyj calls for more support

Ukrainian President Zelenskyi declared a state of war. He appealed to the country’s citizens not to panic. “We are prepared for everything, we will win,” he said in a video message published on Facebook. He called for immediate sanctions against Moscow. He also needs defense assistance and financial support, he wrote on Twitter after phone calls with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among others. Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba called for Russia to be excluded from the SWIFT international payment system.

NATO strengthens troops in the east

NATO wants in the face of the Russian attack increase their air, land, and naval forces in the east. All measures are and will remain “preventive, proportionate and not escalating,” said a statement by the 30 alliance states that was adopted at noon. Secretary General Stoltenberg said NATO would not support Ukraine with its own troops. The alliance had come together at short notice for an emergency meeting.