- Ukrainian and Russian armed forces have been fighting for control of an airfield just outside Kyiv.
- CNN footage showed Russian airborne troops on the ground as they engaged Ukrainian troops.
- The airport's role as a cargo center and proximity to the capital could aid Russia's offensive.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have been fighting for hours over a critical airfield on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city.
Russian forces attacked and seized Hostomel (Gostomel) airfield, a cargo airport near Kyiv that is also known as Antonov airport, early Thursday, according to AFP. Ukraine's leadership reportedly vowed to take it back.
"The enemy paratroopers in Hostomel have been blocked, and troops have received an order to destroy them," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address.
Hostomel is located in the northwestern suburbs of Kyiv, which makes it potentially critical to the defense of the Ukrainian capital. Control of the strategic airport would allow Russia to quickly reinforce its fight with troops and supplies.
CNN reporter Matthew Chance, who has been on the ground outside Kyiv, reported earlier Thursday that Russian airborne troops were engaged in a firefight with Ukrainian troops at the airfield.
"It shows us now for the first time just how close Russian forces have got towards the center of the Ukrainian capital," the reporter said.
—Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 24, 2022
Helicopters were seen flying low over the airfield and witnesses nearby told AFP they saw fighter jets fire missiles at Ukrainian troops as the fighting began.
"Then there was shooting, it lasted three hours," one local resident told the AFP. "Then three more jets flew in and they started shooting again."
Though it was reported earlier Thursday that the helicopter-borne Russian airborne troops, who were identified by orange and black bands on the arm of their uniforms, had taken the airport, Ukraine has may have since been able to retake the airfield.
An advisor to the Ukrainian president, after initially declaring that Ukraine had repelled the Russians prematurely, announced on Facebook that "Hostomel Airport is ours" and that the "Russian paratroopers have been destroyed." The exact status of the airfield has not been independently confirmed.