Russia has reportedly begun its full-scale assault on Kyiv after suffering heavy losses amid its invasion of Ukraine.

On Friday night, the Ukrainian army confirmed they had intercepted and crashed a transport plane that was carrying at least 150 Russian paratroopers into the capital.

The aircraft reportedly came down near Vasylkiv, which is located just twenty miles away from Kyiv, where heavy fire took place at 3 am local time after Russian troops stormed the Ukrainian checkpoints.

The news comes shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the nation and warned that the Russians would launch a full-scale attack on Kyiv tonight.

“Russia will try to break our resistance with all its might. Tonight the enemy will begin storming us. We need to withstand them!” he said earlier.

“This night will be difficult, very difficult. But the morning will come,” he added as he warned that other strategic cities will likely also face a night-time Russian assault.

As of this writing, special forces have already surrounded Kyiv, whereas Russia’s heavy armor is still some miles away from the capital.

It is believed that their mission is to capture one or more of the airports surrounding Kyiv before flying in some 10,000 paratroopers in a bid to storm the capital and overthrow the Ukrainian government.

“We do assess that there is greater resistance by the Ukrainians than the Russians expected,” a high-ranking US defense official said as they weighed in on the conflict in Europe.

“They are not moving on Kyiv as fast as what we believe they anticipated they would be able to do. That said, they continue to try to move on Kyiv.”

While experts have warned that Kyiv will likely fall to Russians by the end of the weekend, President Zelensky suggested that the fate of the city and the country will be decided today.

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