Russian ground forces are advancing in Ukraine

around Antonov international airport in Hostomel, a north-western suburb of Kyiv, were thick with Russian i-8 helicopters. As one came under attack by a surface-to-air missile, it released an explosive burst of flares. The air assault by Russia—perhaps one of the largest of recent decades—was a bold and brazen attempt to seize a strategic airport near Ukraine’s capital.As this article was published, the rough contours of the fighting in Hostomel and the whole of Ukraine were only just becoming discernable. At one stage, Russian troops were seen patrolling the airport. Ukrainian forces later counter-attacked, and claimed to have taken back the facility by the evening. The sounds of the fighting could be heard from several kilometres away.