Passport control at Boryspil airportZURICH Feb 24The Swiss airline SWISS, which previously suspended flights to and from Kiev, is extending the period of flight cancellations until March 26 inclusive due to the situation in Ukraine, Sonia Ptassek, a spokeswoman for the air carrier, told RIA Novosti. «Due to the current situation in Ukraine, SWISS suspends its flights to Kyiv until March 26, 2022 (we already suspended our flights on February 21 and extended the cancellation period today). The safety of our passengers and crew is always of paramount importance,» she said. Ptassek added that passengers will be informed accordingly. In the morning On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special operation to demilitarize Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that circumstances «require decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» />In Kiev, closed several metro stationsAccording to the Russian leader, all responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine. He urged the Ukrainian military not to follow the criminal orders of the Ukrainian authorities, lay down their arms and go home. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the Russian Armed Forces do not launch any missile, air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine: military infrastructure, air defense facilities are disabled by high-precision weapons , military airfields and aviation. The ministry assured that the civilian population was not in danger. Approximately two hours later, the Ministry of Defense added that the Ukrainian border guards «do not offer any resistance», Ukrainian air defense systems were suppressed, and the military infrastructure of military air bases was disabled. The military department denied the information of foreign media about the alleged downing of a Russian plane over Ukraine in the military department. /4119483f1ad32ca65398923b30e22814.jpg» />The evacuation of the population was suspended in the DPRPosted by: David Andriyasov
