Ukrainian Military Airplane Crashes Near Kiev, Killing Five - Photo

The news comes amid the start of a special Russian military operation in the Donbass region declared by President Vladimir Putin early on 24 February. The operation's goal is to protect the DPR and LPR and "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine.

A Ukrainian military airplane went down near Kiev, Ukraine's State Service for Emergency Situations has stated publishing a photo from the site of the incident. According to the service, five people were killed in the incident.

The emergency situations service said that the plane was carrying 14 people in total and that all fatalities were caused by a fire that started after the plane crash landed.

The report comes amid the launch of a special operation by the Russian armed forces in Donbass ordered early in the morning by President Vladimir Putin. The president stated that the situation with the Donbass republics, which he has repeatedly described as "genocide" had become critical and required Russia's intervention. The Russian Defence Ministry called on the Ukrainian armed forces to surrender to avoid casualties and said that Russian forces were only attacking Ukrainian military objects and are not targeting cities.

Russia recognised the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) on 21 February signing treaties of friendship with them, which allowed Moscow to use its armed forces to protect the Donbass republics. The latter have been suffering from Ukrainian shelling for over a week now.

Western countries condemned both the recognition of the DPR and LPR, and the launch of the special operation in Donbass by Russia, calling it an "invasion". They promised to impose new "severe sanctions" on Moscow on 24 February.