English daily published in Bengaluru & Doha
Russia claims it controls airport near Ukraine capital
Moscow: The Russian military claims it has taken control of an airport just outside Kyiv, as Kremlin forces bear down on the Ukrainian capital. The claim could not be independently verified.
Taking possession of the airport in Hostomel, which has a long runway allowing the landing of heavy-lift transport planes, would mean Russia can airlift troops directly to Kyiv’s outskirts.
Hostomel is just 7 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of the city. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Friday that the Russian airborne forces used 200 helicopters to land in Hostomel and killed over 200 troops belonging to Ukraine’s special forces.
Konashenkov claimed that Russian troops suffered no casualties. That contradicts Ukrainian claims that Russian troops sustained heavy casualties in the fighting there. —AP
Luxembourg’s foreign minister said Friday that the 27-nation European Union was “very close to agreement” for asset freeze of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Jean Asselborn said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss Russian sanctions “I think we are very close to an agreement, that we will find an agreement here,” for sanctions on the two.
“There will be a discussion but I think we agree that Putin and Lavrov, as far as the freezing of assets is concerned, that we will find a consensus here,” he said. EU leaders largely agreed it was too soon to impose a travel ban on Putin and Lavrov because negotiating channels needed to be kept open.
The world has made it clear that a military intervention in Ukraine is off the books, so most countries on Friday were throwing ever more punishment at Moscow — from financial to football sanctions — anything to force President Vladimir Putin to stop the brutal invasion of Russia’s neighbour and unleash a major war in Europe.
Undeterred in the game of punitive sanctions, Russia started its own tit-fortat measures, banning British flights to and over its territory in retaliation to a similar U.K. ban on Aeroflot flights.
