MOSCOW

Russian troops have captured the Hostomel airfield outside Ukraine's capital of Kyiv and blocked access to the Ukraine's capital from the west, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Friday.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the military, at first, blocked the air defense system and radio signals.

After that, Konashenkov added, more than 200 helicopters secured the area, letting the paratroopers quickly capture the airfield.

According to him, the Russian forces did not suffer any losses and more than 200 troops of Ukraine's special units were “neutralized,” which he described as “Nazis.”

"The main forces of the airborne troops have reunited with the units of the Russian ground forces at the Hostomel airfield, ensuring that access to the city of Kyiv from the west has been blocked," Konashenkov said.

The spokesman expects the Ukrainian military will try to regain the Hostomel aerodrome. "Intelligence data show that multiple rocket launchers ‘Grad’ have been deployed on Shevchenko Square in Kyiv to strike the Hostomel airfield," he added.

Konashenkov accused Ukraine of deploying the artillery in residential areas in Kyiv. “This m.o. (mode of operation) is familiar to us. These techniques are actively used by CIA-supervised terrorists in the Middle East and other countries," he claimed.

In addition, he said, the Russian armed forces blocked the northern city of Chernihiv.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow earlier this week officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to install a puppet government and said Ukrainians will defend their country against Russian aggression.