By the time I hit publish on this quick update it will be 6:40 AM local time in Kyiv. For now, at least, its defenses and defenders still stand!
⚡️President Volodymyr Zelensky is personally heading the defense of Kyiv.
He is in the capital, according to state-run Dom TV channel.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2022
⚡️Security Council Secretary Danilov: “We are stopping the horde as best as we can, the situation in Kyiv is under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and our citizens.”
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2022
An attack on a military unit in Kyiv repelled by Ukraine's military.
Russian invading forces attacked a military unit on Kyiv’s left bank overnight, but Ukraine’s forces were able to successfully fight it off, according to the Land forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2022
As local press says, a Ukrainian air strike Friday night made Russian forces back off Kherson and retreat to the other bank of the Dnipro River. The city is still under Ukrainian control. https://t.co/zSFWNu79Rr
— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 26, 2022
Russian attack in the Peremohy (“victory”) Avenue in Kyiv has been repelled, the military say. pic.twitter.com/oACVjfNOip
— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 26, 2022
Ukrainian air defense have now brought down a second Russian IL-76 transport. If they were both carrying a full complement of Russian paratroopers, that’s approximately 290 KIA as each IL-26 can carry 145 paratroopers. Including flight crew, just those two strikes have added over 300 new KIAs to Russia’s casualty lists.
Yet another Russian Ilyushin Il-76 has been downed near Bila Tserkva, Ukraine’s State Agency for Special Communications says.
The Battle of Vasylkiv Airfield rages high.— Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 26, 2022
The Russian invasion force, however, has not stopped. Attacks are being reported in a number of other Ukrainian cities:
⚡️Air raid alerts in multiple cities: Lviv, Lutsk, Uman, Vinnytsia, Rivne
People must go to the closest shelter.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2022
Now we wait and see what day 3 of Russia’s reinvasion and war against Ukraine brings.
Open thread!