Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has already left at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers and “a few” Ukrainian civilians dead as of Thursday, multiple sources reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine early Thursday as air strike sirens rang in Kyiv and Russian missiles reportedly struck multiple cities across the country.
Anton Gerashchenko, a top adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Facebook that the Russian attacks targeted military command facilities, depots and air bases, according to a translation by the AP.
Radar station Russia bombed on outskirts on Mariupol. pic.twitter.com/SMZ4uHxZMa
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) February 24, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Thursday that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed since the invasion began, CNN reported. Additionally, Zelensky said 316 more soldiers were wounded. Earlier in the day, reOleksiy Arestovych, a Zelensky adviser, said that in addition to over 40 Russian soldiers killed, “up to ten” Ukrainian civilians had died in the violence, CNN reported. “There are a few civilian deaths,” Arestovych reportedly said.
The translation also conveyed that Ukrainian troops had returned fire against a Russian “artillery barrage” backed by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Urgent: Zelensky says Russian military is trying to take control over Chernobyl Nuclear Plant
— Mary Ilyushina (@maryilyushina) February 24, 2022
Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey urged the country to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships, according to The New York Times, following reports that the Russians bolstered their fleet in the Black Sea, which all three countries border.
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