Reports say the Russian Armed Forces have arrived at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, Al Mayadeen correspondent to Crimea reported Thursday.

Moscow has renewed its shelling of Ukrainian military sites in the vicinity of the capital, Kiev, he added.

"Russia closed the black sea to foreign navigation, which prevents reinforcements from reaching Ukraine," our correspondent revealed, noting that the Ukrainian navy had targeted two Russian civilian vessels, causing injuries to those on board.

Al Mayadeen correspondent to Ukraine reported that the Russian army seized control of the dam that controls the flow of water to Crimea in Kakhovka, Ukraine

Footage of #Russian tanks at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant. pic.twitter.com/t6BVqLoL2v

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) February 24, 2022

He also reported that the intensity of mutual shelling has increased in Mariupol', Donetsk, adding that the exchange of fire between the Donetsk Armed Forces and their Ukrainian counterparts lasted for more than 40 minutes.

Amid the shelling, a military base in Brovary, near Kiev, was struck, as the second-largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv, lost its internet access while social media users are saying the Russian army entered the city and the Ukrainian army withdrew.

5 Ukrainian troops die in an aircraft crash

The Ukrainian emergency service announced that five soldiers died in a military plane crash. The aircraft had 14 troops on board.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian border guards reported that a convoy of Russian tanks penetrated the Ukrainian defenses and is heading toward Kiev, and Kiev declared that it was ready to respond to the Russian forces, which made their way through Crimea to Melitopol' and Kherson.

In light of the increasingly escalating combat, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov called on "everyone capable of carrying arms to join the defense forces," which prompted the Russian state Duma not to respond to the ministry to prevent bloodshed.

The Russian military has disabled 74 ground facilities of the Ukrainian military structure, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Thursday. 

"As a result of the strikes of the Russian armed forces, 74 ground objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine were put out of action," the defense official said.

According to Moscow, the objects included 11 air force airfields, three command posts, a base point for the navy, and 18 radar stations of S-300 and Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems.

The US Air Force's F-35 fighters have arrived in Lithuania on Thursday, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

"In Lithuania, on February 24, armed US F-35 military aircraft landed at the airbase of the Lithuanian Army Air Force in Siauliai, where additional US military forces are deployed," the ministry said in a statement.

The US has also taken an "important and necessary" decision in response to the current security situation, which is the continuation of the rotation of the heavy 3-66 armor battalion in Lithuania, Vilnius added.

Another two aircraft arrived in Romania to "train and run missions" with the Romanian army.

Tensions had been soaring between Russia and Ukraine over the Donbass region and announcing it was intending to sign a decree recognizing the independence of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). 

The announcement had been preceded by intense Ukrainian shelling of the two republics, and Russia's recognition of their statehood was a move to protect the innocent civilians from the Ukrainian aggressions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier authorized a special military operation in Donbass this Thursday morning, citing neo-Nazi NATO allies moving closer to his nation's border.

In response to the Russian operation in Donbass, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have agreed to hold consultations in accordance with NATO's Article 4.

Russia has for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.