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The early morning hours of February 24, the Russian army launched its offensive on Ukraine. The extent of the attacks inside Ukraine was unclear for much of the day, both on the internet and on the ground. Less than 24 hours later, Russian soldiers were filmed 27 kilometres from the centre of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Russia’s initial strikes, carried out with cruise and ballistic missiles, mainly targeted Ukrainian airports and military sites, such as radar facilities and air-defence installations.
While Russian forces attacked Ukraine from the east and northeast, the most direct attack took place near Kyiv. By late morning, Russian Mi-8 transport helicopters were seen near the Antonov cargo airport in Hostomel, a suburb on the northwest outskirts of the capital.
A large-scale air assault
We were able to authenticate videos published online, including one posted at 1:15 pm local time on Telegram. It shows Russian Mi-8 transport helicopters and KA-52 ground attack helicopters flying in unison with two plumes of smoke in the background.
At one point in the video, a factory chimney becomes visible. We were able to confirm the exact location by using a Wikimapia collaborative map: it is the Vetropack glass factory in Hostomel (exact location here).
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Source : france24
