Update(10:11amET): The potential is rising for greater fallout from the war across Europe, as intense fighting is being reported centered in the Chernobyl area. Ukrainian authorities are sounding the alarm over potentially disastrous scenarios which could ensue in areas of the Chernobyl containment zone, which includes an expansive region surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant where radioactive contamination is highest, since the April 1986 disaster. Russian troops are reportedly entering the area from Belarus, according to Interfax:
Advisor to Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Gerashchenko said that Russian troops from the territory of Belarus entered the zone of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP).
Gerashchenko stressed that “if a nuclear waste storage facility is destroyed as a result of enemy artillery strikes, then radioactive dust can cover the territories of Ukraine, Belarus and the EU countries!”
Ukraine’s President Zelensky has also reportedly sounded the alarm over combat in the containment area:
UKRAINE PRESIDENT SAYS RUSSIAN OCCUPATION FORCES ARE TRYING TO CAPTURE THE CHERNOBYL PLANT
Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the #Chornobyl_NPP. Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated. Reported this to @SwedishPM. This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2022
clarifying: advisor says heaving fighting MAY disturb nuclear waste.
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) February 24, 2022
It goes without saying that given the ferocity of Russia’s ongoing air and ground campaign, any major incident there could spark broader panic for Europe, and a possible long term negative health impact in parts of Europe.
Meanwhile Russia’s air war continues to intensify…
Video of a dangerously close air-to-ground strike. Unclear of purpose or target. pic.twitter.com/CKIVjRWEyN
— Global: MilitaryInfo (@Global_Mil_Info) February 24, 2022
* * *
Now many hours into Russia’s attack that started around 5am Kiev time, it’s become clear that a full-scale ‘shock and awe’ type invasion is clearly on – which is not just limited to Donbas in the east. Stunning videos from on the ground show what can be described as an ongoing air war on Kiev and several other cities across the country. Tanks have also been seen speeding across Ukraine’s border from Belarus, with widespread reports that Belarusian soldiers are mounting the attack alongside Russian troops.
Russia’s military had announced within just a couple hours into the offensive that all of Ukraine’s air defense systems have been taken out. A massive Russian aerial presence, including fighter jets and helicopters, has been confirmed over much of the country.
Confirmed by Ukrainian authorities. A large air assault operation with Mi-8 helicopters on Antonov International Airport in Hostomel. Interior Ministry says Russia has seized control. Very dangerous; it’s just 15 minutes west of the capital ring road. pic.twitter.com/JhlyVktVRC
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 24, 2022
Soon after the initial attack which also included cruise missile launches, which likely came from Russia’s Black Sea fleet, Kiev authorities cited “hundreds” of Ukrainians killed, including civilians.
It’s believed that much of Ukraine’s command and control military infrastructure was targeted and hit in the first wave, also as Ukraine border guards were attack, with some reports of soldiers fleeing the Russian advance. Moscow has declared safe passage for any Ukrainian soldier laying down their arms.
Ukraine’s state emergency service has also said a Ukrainian military plane was downed, which killed five people. This as surreal battlefield footage continues to evidence the ferocity of an air war in progress.
A group of Russian helicopters was attacked using man-portable air defense systems (or RPGs).
Countermeasures are active.20 km to Kiev. Vyshgorod, Kiev region. pic.twitter.com/iRL2SsaO7q
— War News💥 (@AlphaW4r) February 24, 2022
Video pic.twitter.com/3s6HldT3xC
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 24, 2022
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday issued comment on the scope and goal of the military objections, citing Putin’s aim of the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.
“Ideally, Ukraine should be liberated, cleansed of Nazis, of pro-Nazi people and ideology,” Peskov said, saying that operations would end only once these objectives have been reached. It remains unclear whether this will mean regime change in Kiev, though at this point that scenario is looking more than likely. There were early reports that President Zelensky has been offered safe passage if he leaves Ukraine.
Russian Ka-52 shot down in Hostomel from up close. You can clearly see the ‘Belarusian’ V marking. One of the pilots has been taken prisoner. pic.twitter.com/EymYhnohoe
— Tadeusz Giczan 🇺🇦 (@TadeuszGiczan) February 24, 2022
Ukraine national police and emergency services have said there’s been fighting throughout the entire country, with Russia conducting over 200 attacks, with severe clashes ongoing in various parts of Ukraine.
Footage of Russian soldiers hoisting the Russian flag on a hydroelectric plant building in Nova Kakhovka, 60km into Ukrainian territory. The Crimean front appears to have collapsed pic.twitter.com/nn4rThddZn
— Tadeusz Giczan 🇺🇦 (@TadeuszGiczan) February 24, 2022
Russian tanks rolling past @fpleitgenCNN while he’s live on air. “That is the road leading to Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/N02h0whaHQ
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 24, 2022
President Biden has vowed severe and far-reaching new sanctions, which he said will be announced in an address on Thursday. German chancellor Olaf Scholz and other Western leaders condemned what Scholz called a “reckless act by President Putin,” and “terrible day for Ukraine and a dark day for Europe.”
Military airport in Lutsk, Ukraine destroyed. Tactical strikes on military installations continue. pic.twitter.com/YBDBRDlQQ9
— Live Monitor (@amlivemon) February 24, 2022
“There is no justification for any of this — this is Putin’s war,” Scholz said at a news conference in Berlin.
The large in scope Russian campaign is now being widely described as Putin’s “shock and awe” war – to borrow from America’s Iraq War – in the heart of eastern Europe. Bloomberg and others are calling it Europe’s worst security crisis since World War II.
