Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ukraine military plane with 14 on board crashes near Kyiv

Ukraine on Thursday (February 24) fought Russian forces along practically its entire border with Russia, and there was fierce fighting in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa and at a military airport near Kyiv, an adviser to the presidential office said.

Ukrainian State Border Guard Service site damaged by shelling in Kyiv region (Pic: Reuters)

Kyiv (Ukraine): Ukraine military plane with 14 on board crashes near Kyiv, said emergency service, AFP reports. Earlier the agency also reported that Russian forces have broken into the north of Kyiv region, Ukraine border guards were quoted as saying by AFP. Ukraine on Thursday fought Russian forces along practically its entire border with Russia, and there was fierce fighting in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa and at a military airport near Kyiv, an adviser to the presidential office said.

The Ukrainian official said they feared that Russian forces could be airdropped into the country and then try to penetrate the government district in Kyiv. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Ukrainian border guards had abandoned all facilities at the Russian-Ukrainian border, the Interfax news agency reported.

A Ukrainian military plane was shot down on Thursday and five people were killed, Ukrainian police and the state emergency service said, as its armed forces sought to defend against a massive Russian military operation.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two.  The crisis began when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine to defend separatists in the Donbas region of the country, that's in the eastern part.

In a statement that sent shockwaves worldwide, Putin said, "I have made the decision of a military operation." It confirmed the West`s worst fears and prompted fears of a massive flood of refugees fleeing Ukraine, a nation of 44 million people. Meanwhile, central European countries braced on Thursday for the arrival of refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Poland setting up reception points on its border and Hungary and Slovakia planning to send troops to manage the likely influx. The countries on the European Union's eastern flank were all once part of the Moscow-led Warsaw Pact and are now members of NATO. Among them, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania all share land borders with Ukraine.

(With Reuters inputs)