As of: 02/25/2022 4:22 p.m
Shots in Kiev and allegedly hundreds dead soldiers on both sides. The situation in the war over Ukraine remains confusing. Now Russian President Putin is turning to the Ukrainian army.
According to their own statements, the Russian troops blocked the Ukrainian capital from the west during their attack on Ukraine. In addition, the strategically important Hostomel airfield northwest of Kiev had been taken, according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, according to the TASS agency. 200 Ukrainians were killed. There are no own losses, the ministry claimed.
There was initially no confirmation from the Ukrainian side. The leadership in Kiev recently announced that it had repulsed attacks on Hostomel. The Russian troops suffered heavy losses. Taking the airport at Hostomel would mean Russia could transport troops directly to the outskirts of Kiev. The airport has a long runway that can accommodate heavy transport aircraft. Hostomel is about seven kilometers northwest of Kiev.
“The situation in Kiev is said to have calmed down a bit,” Demian von Osten, ARD Moscow
Tagesschau 2:00 p.m., 25.2.2022
“The city is in defense mode”
Loud explosions were also heard in the capital itself. “Terrible Russian rocket fire on Kiev,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter. According to the Ukrainian army, two missiles were destroyed in flight over Kiev. Mayor Vitali Klitschko spoke of three injuries from rocket parts, “the city is in defense mode”. Russia increasingly wants to destroy civilian infrastructure and houses, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said.
The Ukrainian military is fighting fierce battles with Russian troops in the Kiev area. Soldiers took up defensive positions on bridges and armored vehicles rolled through the streets. Military spokesman Oleksiy Arestovych said the Ukrainian army had destroyed some Russian helicopters and military equipment. Ukrainian troops moved into Kiev with heavy military equipment to defend the capital. Gunfire and explosions in some areas meant Russian “saboteurs” would be taken out.
Population should prepare Molotov cocktails
The Ministry of Defense had previously called on the people of Kiev to prepare so-called Molotov cocktails for battle and to report sightings of Russian military technology. Residents should not leave their homes. The Ukrainian army warned that Russian units were using partially conquered Ukrainian technology.
The Ukrainian military also reported heavy fighting in Ivankiv, about 60 kilometers northwest of Kiev. A bridge over a river was destroyed. Some tanks were set on fire with rockets. “Today will be the hardest day,” Interior Ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko told Telegram.
Shootout in the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kiev
Vassili Golod, WDR, daily news 3:00 p.m., February 25, 2022
Ukraine: Losses on Russian side
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian armed forces have already inflicted heavy losses on Russia. So far, the invading troops have “lost” 2,800 soldiers, according to the Defense Ministry in Kiev. It was unclear whether the soldiers were killed, wounded or captured.
In addition, it is estimated that up to 80 tanks, more than 500 other military vehicles, 10 airplanes and 7 helicopters were destroyed. The information cannot be independently verified at this time. The armed forces had previously announced that more than 1,000 Russian attackers had been killed. “We are strong! Victory will be ours!” the Ministry stressed. However, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that there were no casualties.
Putin addresses the Ukrainian army
Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the Ukrainian army to take power in Kiev and overthrow President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his government. “Take power in your hands. It seems to me that negotiations between you and us would be easier,” Putin said in a speech to the Ukrainian armed forces, which was broadcast on Russian television.
Putin described members of the Ukrainian government as a “gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis” and “terrorists”. Putin denies the independent country of Ukraine the right to statehood. He repeatedly spoke of a “puppet government” in the West that he wanted to “denazify.” The Jewish President Zelenskyy and his government came to power through democratic elections.
The ex-president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, spoke from the capital. He called Russian President Vladimir Putin “just crazy” and “evil”. It is just malicious to come to this country and kill Ukrainians, Poroshenko told US broadcaster CNN. The ex-president was seen walking the streets of Kiev surrounded by Ukrainian forces. Poroshenko was in office from 2014 to 2019 and helped negotiate the peace plan for eastern Ukraine in 2015.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.