The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated in his message at the end that he does not deeply believe in the result of the meeting with Russia in Belarus, but “Let’s try”, this is “a small but a chance”.

“I had a telephone conversation with Alexander Lukashenko. We had not talked with him for 2 years, and today we talked for a long time. I explained to him in detail the impossibility of our collision. I do not want missiles, planes, helicopters to fly from Belarus to Ukraine. I do not want troops to come to Ukraine from Belarus. And he assured me that it would not happen.

I will, as always, honestly say. I really do not believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let’s try. So that no Ukrainian citizen has any doubt that I, as president, did not try to stop the war when there was a chance, albeit a small one, but still a chance,” he said.

Zelensky confirmed the information about the destruction of one An-225 “Mriya” plane, which was parked at Gostomel airport.

“Yesterday, unfortunately, we lost “Mriya”. But the old “Mriya”. We will build a new dream. “Glory to Ukraine,” he said.

“Mriya” translated from Ukrainian means “dream”.

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It should be reminded that in the early morning of 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a message announcing the decision to launch a special military operation in Donbas.

“Circumstances require us to take decisive and immediate action. The Donbas People’s Republics have appealed to Russia. I have decided to launch a special military operation in this regard,” Putin said in a televised address to Russian citizens.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that from 05:00 (07:00 Yerevan time) on Thursday, the Russian Armed Forces carried out intensive attacks on Ukrainian military facilities and airports.

The Verkhovna Rada has declared martial law in Ukraine. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced the preliminary number of victims and wounded.