Ukraine landed a significant blow on Russia Saturday after it allegedly killed a large group of bloodthirsty Chechen special forces dispatched to assassinate the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The armed group – famed for their barbaric violence and human rights abuses – are said to have been obliterated after their convoy of 56 tanks was blown to smithereens near Hostomel, just northeast of Kyiv, by Ukrainian missile fire on the second day of the Chechens’ deployment. It is unclear how many died – but the number is likely to run into the hundreds.
Their deaths were reported by The Kyiv Independent news outlet as officials in Kyiv revealed that they’d managed to maintain control of Ukraine’s capital city throughout combat on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.
First Deputy Chairman of Kyiv City State Administration Mykola Povoroznyk said: ‘The situation in Kyiv is calm, the capital is fully controlled by the Ukrainian army and the terror defense. At night there were several clashes with sabotage group.’
Among those said to have been wiped out was Chechen general Magomed Tushaev. He was commander of the 141th motorized national guard brigade – Chechen head of state Ramzan Kadyrov’s elite force.
Tushaev had also been pictured with Kadyrov, in a measure of his importance to the Chechen regime, which shot to notoriety in the west for hunting down, torturing and killing gay men.
Kadyrov is even believed to have visited his doomed squadron in a Ukrainian forest before their alleged deaths.
The terror squadron’s reported killings are a crushing psychological blow for Vladimir Putin’s stalled efforts to conquer Ukraine. The Russian premiere had dispatched the group to capture or kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, knowing full well that the fighters’ brutal reputation would strike further fear into the hearts of besieged Ukrainians.
Each fighter had been given a deck of cards complete with photos of Ukrainian officials they’d been told to target.
But Zelensky remains standing, and has become a global hero for his brave dispatches from the front line – while his would-be assassins’ reported killings have brought huge disgrace and widespread grief to Chechnya.
Putin is said to be growing increasingly angry by his stalled efforts to conquer Ukraine, and has not issued a public address in days.
His fire and manpower vastly outnumbers that of Ukraine, and it is widely believed that Russia will eventually conquer its neighbor.
But the surprisingly effective defense being mounted by the smaller nation has badly tarnished Russian military prestige, with the Kremlin still a way-off their objective of seizing the capital of Kyiv and installing its own government.
On Sunday morning, it emerged Russian missiles hit a nuclear waste disposal site outside of Kyiv – and destroyed the equipment that can detect leaks of radioactive material, as it was revealed that at least 240 Ukrainian civilians have been killed.
A chilling update shared by Ukrainian news website BNO Sunday said: ‘As a result of the mass bombing of Kyiv with all types of anti-aircraft and missile weapons available to the Russian Federation, the missiles that hit the radioactive waste disposal site of the Kyiv Branch of the State Specialized enterprise ‘Radon.’
BNO claimed that there was ‘no evidence of a leak’, but then elaborated by saying that ‘the automated radiation monitoring system failed’ – meaning that dangerous nuclear material could well have been spilled.
The statement the outlet shared said that a ‘preliminary assessment’ showed there was ‘no threat of radioactive’ exposure to people outside the immediate vicinity, with a further examination set to take place when the area is made safe.
The blast came as two Ukrainian cities were rocked by Russian blasts in the early hours of Sunday as Vladimir Putin stepped up his invasion – after it was claimed he has been infuriated by his army’s lack of progress.
And the UN released the first official death toll Sunday, saying that at least 240 civilians have so-far been killed in the conflict. On Saturday night, an unidentified woman became the latest victim of the conflict after a Russian artillery shell struck a nine-story residential apartment block in Kharkiv, killing her as she sat inside.
Local newspaper The Kyiv Independent wrote that an oil depot had been blown up at Vasylkiv Air Base. The city which sits around 40 kilometers south west of Kyiv, close to a key airport. A gas pipeline was also blown up in Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine which sits close to the Russian border.
Video footage showed a mushroom cloud fill the city’s sky as the fuel line was destroyed, with a group of people who filmed the clip heard exclaiming with shock as the ball of flames erupted into the sky. It is unclear if anyone was injured or killed by either blast.
Ukrainian TV station Nexta shared footage of flames and black clouds billowing into the sky at the site of the Vasylkiv attack as the fuel burned. It has also since shared a clip of the moment the oil depot was struck, with a bright white glow filling the darkened night sky as the fuel store ignited.
Chechen general Magomed Tushaev was one of 56 highly-feared elite soldiers blown up by Ukraine after they joined the Russian invasion with their sights set on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
The advance of the Chechen soldiers was intended to strike fear into the hearts of Ukrainians – but they were blown to smithereens on their second day in the country
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains alive – and is fast becoming an international hero – as Vladimir Putin’s efforts to topple the Kyiv government and install his own puppet cabinet runs into trouble
People as far away as Kyiv have since been urged to keep their windows shut to protect them from potentially harmful fumes released by the explosion and subsequent inferno.
Russia was widely-expected to step-up its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure in a bid to try and cower locals into submission.
Forces have been met with far greater resistance than the Kremlin is said to have expected, sparking reports that Putin has been angered that locals have not capitulated to the might of his armed forces as quickly as expected.
Elon Musk risked aggravating the Russian autocrat further Saturday, after answered a plea from Ukraine’s vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov to switch on his Starlink satellites over the country. That means locals will still be able to use the internet if Russia destroys the country’s telecommunications network.
A group of Chechen rebel fighters is pictured in a Ukrainian forest – but huge numbers of the soldiers have since been wiped out after Ukrainian soldiers blew up 56 of their tanks
The soldiers are seen praying – days before it emerged a group had been blown to smithereens on the second day of their tour, with one of their top leaders among those obliterated
Ukrainians are particularly keen to push back against Russian propaganda and lies about the atrocities being inflicted by Putin and his troops.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has so-far managed to avoid Russian kill squads deployed to capture and assassinate him, and shared updates earlier on Saturday vowing to fight on, having previously conceded he was unlikely to survive the conflict when it inevitably intensifies.
The Vasylkiv blasts – said to have been triggered by Russian ballistic missiles – filled the skies over Kyiv with an eerie orange glow in the early hours of Sunday morning. It is unclear if anyone was injured or killed in the explosions.
The explosions were first reported by CNN and stuck close to the Ukrainian capital’s secondary airport, Boryspil International. They took place around 15 minutes apart, and set of car alarms miles from the explosion epicenter.
Vasylkiv mayor Natalia Balasynovych told the Independent that her city and its airfield sustained heavy shelling from ballistic missiles. She said: ‘The enemy wants to destroy everything around, but he will not succeed. Hold on!’
She later recorded a Facebook message for locals, saying: ‘You can see what is going on, you can see the fire – unfortunately, this is the petroleum storage depot in Kriachky village.
‘The enemy wants to destroy everything around, but he will not be successful. You’ve seen that during the day there was heavy shelling from ballistic missiles. Our airfield was shelled as well, but we got it, it’s under control of Ukraine.
An eerie orange glow lights up the sky in Vasylkyiv after Russian missiles targeted an oil refinery located on a local air base
This is the moment a gas pipeline was blown up by Ukraine in the city of Kharkiv, which sits east of Ukraine, close to the Russian border
An oil depot is pictured on fire in the Ukrainian city of Vasylkiv, southwest of Kyiv, in the early hours of Sunday. The city’s mayor Natalia Balasynovych said the blaze was the result of a Russian ballistic missile attack
A woman was killed in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday night after a Russian artillery shell hit this nine-story apartment building
This statement was shared by BNO News Saturday announcing a strike on the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine in Kyiv, which stores radioactive waste
The building that was struck is pictured in May 2015. A radiation detector was also destroyed in the strike, although a preliminary inspection has suggested that there does not appear to be any danger to local residents
Mayor of Vasylkiv Natalia Balasynovych shared a video message in the early hours of Sunday saying that Russian forces wanted to ‘destroy everything’ in their attempts to conquer Ukraine
‘The night will be difficult here, as well as in Kyiv, but we will stand our ground and we will win, because God is with us.’
Vasylkiv had suffered heavy Russian bombardment in the early hours of Saturday, as Russian troops fought to try and seize control of a key strategic staging post on the road to Kyiv.
Kyiv’s 2.9 million citizens face another night of terror as it was claimed Russia will step up its bombardment on Saturday night, and target commercial businesses in a bid to destroy Ukrainian morale.
Many have fled to underground shelters in a bid to stay safe, although other men and women have taken to the streets with weapons in a bid to fend off any Russian advance.
BNO News also shared footage of heavy shelling in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, with the night sky there lit up by the orange glow of explosions.
Donald Trump – who touted his close relationship with Vladimir Putin while he was president – condemned the attack while speaking at the CPAC conservative conference in Florida Saturday night.
Trump said: ‘The Russian attack on Ukraine is appalling, it’s an outrage and an atrocity that should never have been allowed to occur. It never would have occurred. We are praying for the proud people of Ukraine. God bless them all.’
An eerie orange glow lights up the skies over Ukraine in the early hours of Sunday local time, with the fire suspected to be at the site of a fuel depot close to one of the city’s airports
This map shows the attacks so-far known to have taken place in the Kyiv area during Sunday local time, and will be updated as more information emerges
This map shows the strikes Russia is so-far known to have carried out against Ukraine, with more explosions rocking the country in the early hours of Sunday morning
Estonia’s former defense minister Riho Terras shared what he claimed was intel about Russia’s slower-than-anticipated attempt to overrun Ukraine
Terras claimed the Russians had expected to terrify Ukraine into submission – only to be met with stern resistance
Terras also claimed horrific attacks on civilian targets would be unleashed to try and panic Ukrainians, but urged them to stand firm
Terras shared this photo which he claims is of a Russian intelligence briefing, and which says that Putin’s invasion is going far worse than the Kremlin chief had anticipated
A Russian missile hit a residential tower block in the early hours of Saturday, with local officials warning Putin would step up attacks on civilian targets in a bid to terrify the Ukrainians into submission
A Ukrainian man waits with his gun at a territorial defense registration unit Saturday. Tens of thousands of ordinary Ukrainians have signed up to try and help their military defeat Vladimir Putin’s invasion
Around 200 Ukrainian civilians are estimated to have been killed so far. Meanwhile, Ukraine has claimed to have killed 3,500 Russian troops, including hundreds believed to have died when two transport jets were shot down Friday night.
Those losses and the continued failure to seize Kyiv have left Vladimir Putin furious, according to Estonia’s former defense chief Riho Terras.
Terras wrote on Twitter: ‘ Putin is furious, he thought that the whole war would be easy and everything would be done in 1-4 days.
‘The Russians are in shock of the fierce resistance they have encountered.’
The defense expert went on to claim Russia was failing because it had failed to enact a ‘tactical plan’ and beyond expecting the attack to ‘sew panic among civilians and armed forces and force (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky to flee.’
Terras shared an image of a a piece of paper said to be a defense document which proclaimed: ‘Putin is raging. He was sure it would be a cake walk.’