By Azuka Christopher
SAT 26 FEB, 2022-theGBJournal- The Ukraine government says that 3,500 Russian troops have died, with almost 200 soldiers taken prison since Valdimir Putin’s Russia invaded the country in the early hours of Thursday.
The Ukrainian military adds that Russia has also lost 14 aircrafts, 8 helicopters, and 102 tanks in a post on its Facebook wall. No official casualty count has been independently verified so far.
Ukrainian armed forces said Friday that they shot down two Russian IL-76 military transport plane carrying Russian paratroopers.
In Donbas, a helicopter and an Su-25 ground attack jet using surface-to-air missiles was also said to be brought down by Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian government said Friday that fighting has broken on the streets of the capital Kyiv, hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a photo of him on the streets urging his fighters on, and after he warned that Russia would storm the city.
The president also posted a video of himself on Twitter walking around the streets of Kyiv in a effort to stem rumours that he has called on the Ukrainian army to surrender to Russian Troops.
Reports say Russian troops were closing in on the center of Kyiv in the early hours of Saturday with fierce fighting taking place in different parts of the city.
Fighting was reported in Troieshchyna, north of Kyiv, and site of a thermal power station. Ukraine says Russia has bombed 33 civilian sites in Kyiv in the last 24 hours.
Russia on its part claims it has destroyed 118 Ukrainian military sites since the invasion.
Terrified Ukrainians have been posting videos filmed from their apartments of flashes of artillery and aircraft gunfire with most of the cities suburbs already surrounded by Russian troops.
Meanwhile, thousands of people protested in Tbilisi, Georgia on Friday, calling for an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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