Ukrainian Politician Says Russian Strike Damaged Two Old Planes at Kyiv Airport

Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said Russian forces damaged two old Soviet Yak-40 passenger planes at Kyiv’s Zhuliany airport.

Smoke columns had earlier been reported over the airport, although Ukraine’s air force command and government did not immediately comment on a suspected strike. Honcharenko said the damaged aircraft had not been used for a long time, but he did not explain how he obtained the information.

In an earlier Telegram post, Honcharenko said U.S. presidential special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had been expected in Kyiv. He said the American aircraft was scheduled to land at Boryspil airport rather than Zhuliany.

The lawmaker published his claim at 11:38 a.m. local time, about 30 minutes after the first reports of smoke over Zhuliany. He suggested the strike could have been “a signal from Vladimir Putin” intended to show the United States that Russia did not plan to make concessions. He also speculated that Moscow may have known about the U.S. negotiators’ planned visit.

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a signal from Vladimir Putin