On Thursday, the Ukraine military said it destroyed five Russian planes and a Russian helicopter from the breakaway Luhansk region shortly after Moscow began a military campaign against the nation.
Ukraine military says five Russian planes and the Russian helicopter were destroyed in the Luhansk region, Reuters stated.
Ukraine’s border guard agency has stated they believe the Russian military is threatening neighboring Belarus.
READ MORE: Oil prices rise, stocks fall as Russia strikes Ukraine.
The agency reported that Russian troops launched an artillery fire as part of an attack supported by Belarus.
They added that Ukrainian border guards were firing back, noting they had no news of injuries.
Russian troops have been sent to its allies Belarus for military exercises, which the West believed was a sign of an intro for an invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital city, is located about 75 kilometers (50 miles) south of the border with Belarus.
However, Russia claimed that it had destroyed Ukraine’s air bases and the air defenses.
In a statement published by news media, the defense ministry declared that Kyiv’s defense systems had been “eliminated.”
Ukraine is home to approximately 200,000 soldiers and is likely to increase that number with the possibility of 250,000 reserve soldiers.
Moscow’s overall forces are greater — roughly a million active-duty personnel and have been upgraded and re-armed recently.
However, Ukraine has received sophisticated anti-tank weapons and drones from NATO members.
Additional weapons have been promised as allies attempt to stop the possibility of a Russian attack, or at the very least cost it.
Ukrainian Presidency Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an earlier emotional plea for peace, primarily delivered in Russian.
“You are being informed that Ukraine is a danger to Russia. “It wasn’t like this in the past. It isn’t the case currently and won’t be short. Security guarantees are required from NATO. We also want guarantees for our security from you, as well as from Russia and other guarantors under the Budapest memorandum,” Zelenskyy stated in a video speech.
The Ukrainian President warned a Russian invasion could cause tens of thousands of lives.
He also assured the world that his country was not a threat and was not imminent to Russia shortly.
The White House too responded by declaring that Putin could face serious consequences should Moscow enters Ukraine.
