Claims and counter-claims are beginning to emerge in the early hours of the armed attack on Ukraine.
The Russia military forces, early Thursday launched an attack on Ukraine.
The attack came shortly after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation’ in Ukraine. Putin who spoke during a press conference televised early Thursday said the country was launching the special military operation because claimed “a hostile anti-Russia is being created on our historic lands.”
Shortly after explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, the Ukrainian military claimed it has downed five Russian planes and a helicopter in the east of the country near a rebel-held enclave.
“According to the Joint Forces Command, today, February 24, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, five planes and a helicopter of the aggressors were shot down,” the army general staff said.
Meanwhile, the Russia’s defence ministry has also claimed that it had neutralised Ukrainian military airbases and its air defence systems, hours after its President Vladimir Putin launched the military operation.
The military confirmed taking out military infrastructure at Ukraine’s air bases and “suppressed” its air defences.
