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Topics: Ukraine, Russia, World News, Vladimir Putin
Hannah Smith
More than 1,000 Russian Federation Armed Forces have been killed as fighting continues following it launched the invasion, the Ukrainian defence ministry has claimed.
Earlier today, February 25, the UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that intelligence suggested that Russia had failed to meet its primary day one objectives amid stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces, saying that the military was believed to be 'behind its hoped-for timetable' as hostilities enter their second day.
It was then estimated that more than 450 Russians had been killed on the first day of the invasion. However, according to Ukraine's defence ministry, the toll is far higher.
In fact, Illia Ponomarenko, a defence reporter for The Kyiv Independent, claims that as of 3pm today, 2,800 Russian troops have been killed killed, while 80 tanks, 516 armoured vehicles and 10 aircraft have been destroyed.
'Today the number of losses from the occupying forces of the Russian Federation is more than 1,000,' Ukraine's defence ministry tweeted. 'Russia has not suffered such a large number of casualties during this period of hostilities in the entire period of its existence in any of the armed conflicts it has started. Believe in the Armed Forces!'
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Speaking to Sky News, Wallace said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been given 'a bloody nose' after his army failed to take 'any of its major objectives'.
'Contrary to great Russian claims and indeed President Putin's vision that somehow the Ukrainians would be liberated and would be flocking to his cause, he's got that completely wrong,' he said.
Wallace pointed to reports out of Hostomel airport near Ukraine, which was reportedly recaptured by Ukrainian forces from Russian elite troops late yesterday. The airport is understood to have been a key objective for Russian forces as they seek to encircle Kyiv in the coming days.
While the UK puts the number of Russians killed at 450, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence claimed within the past few hours that 800 Russians died in the first 24 hours.
They added that Ukrainian forces had destroyed 30 tanks, 130 armed personnel carriers, seven planes and six helicopters, and had also taken a number of Russian troops prisoner.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed this morning that 137 Ukranians had lost their lives, while the UN has reported a total of 25 civilian deaths and a further 107 injured as a result of shelling and airstrikes.
Despite the firm resistance of the Ukrainian military, the UK and other allies have warned of an 'ominous' outlook for the coming days, with Kyiv expected to become the focus of the fighting.
Unconfirmed reports in the past hour have claimed that Russian forces are approaching the outskirts of Kyiv, with Sky News journalists in the capital reporting hearing explosions and gunfire in the distance.
Overnight on Friday, February 25, Kyiv was hit with a number of missile strikes by Russian forces, as Zelensky announced a general mobilisation of the army and urged citizens to prepare to defend their country.
In a call with Zelensky this morning, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated his support for the Ukrainian people, telling him, 'We believe Putin will fail and this is the key objective of the UK government.'
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