Ukraine’s National Guard posted a photo to social media of three soldiers holding a bullet-riddled Ukrainian flag, and said they were heroes of the battle Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, on Thursday night barred all men aged 18-60 from leaving the country, and a full mobilization of troops He said that at least 137 Ukrainians are dead, and 300 injured
On Thursday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky banned any men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country and ordered a full mobilization of troops.
According to him, at least 137 Ukrainians have died and 300 have been injured.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s government claimed to have retaken an airfield on the outskirts of Kyiv that had been seized by Russian airborne soldiers, while President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered obligatory enlistment and barred all men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country.
In a statement issued at 8 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET), Ukraine’s Armed Forces stated they estimate more than 60 Russian battalion tactical groups — the equivalent of 30,000 to 60,000 troops – have been deployed on Ukrainian soil.
The ‘enemy’s morale is really low,’ it claimed.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, dispatched armed forces early on Thursday in what he described as a “special military operation.”
Prior to the invasion, analysts and intelligence specialists estimated that Putin had up to 190,000 troops stationed along Ukraine’s borders.
Before morning, Russian forces were striking from three directions: from the south, through Crimea; from the east, with Kharkiv under siege; and from the north, with Russian and Belarusian troops rolling through the Belorussian border in tanks.
In the early hours of Thursday, loud explosions were heard in the area of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and US authorities predicted the city would fall by the end of the weekend.
General George Joulwan, who led NATO during the Balkan war, said Kiev will fall within 24-36 hours on Thursday night.
Residents sought cover in the city’s deep subway system as night set on Thursday, knowing that a nocturnal onslaught was imminent.
In the afternoon, smoke billowed above the city, with one strike reported to have occurred near a railway bridge in central Kyiv.
