Ukraine strikes back: Kyiv's troops have already shot down five Russian helicopters, destroyed dozens of tanks - and entire battalion - but president Zelensky admits 137 of his soldiers have died

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Ukrainian troops have shot down five Russian helicopters, destroyed dozens of tanks and captured dozens of troops in the first hours since Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to invade on Thursday morning. 

Kyiv's military is far inferior to its Russian counterpart with an air defense system and air force dating back to the Soviet era. 

But NATO and the US, despite deploying soldiers to neighbouring Romania in recent months, have made it clear that no troops will be sent and left the Ukrainian military to hold off the assault alone. 

By Thursday afternoon, battles were ongoing in Kyiv, along the northern border with Belarus, in Luhansk and Donetsk in the east and around Kherson, the Dneiper River, and the port cities of Odessa and Mariupol in the south. 

Few expect Ukraine to emerge victorious from what is almost certain to be a prolonged, bloody, and vicious war - but so far, Kyiv's forces have managed to inflict heavy losses on Putin's troops. 

Here MailOnline takes a look at what losses Ukrainian forces have inflicted on Russia: 

Few expect Ukraine to emerge victorious from what is almost certain to be a prolonged, bloody, and vicious war

At least 15 T-72 tanks were destroyed or damaged by the Ukrainian forces using the Javelin PTRK, an American anti-tank missile, nearly Glukhov in the country's east late this afternoon

Ukrainian forces have claimed to have shot out of the air at least four Russian KA-52 Alligator attack helicopters during a battle for Gostomel air base. A fifth helicopter (pictured) was forced to make an emergency landing at the field under heavy fire

An image captured near Kyiv shows what appears to be the wreckage of a downed Russian attack helicopter with a soldier parachuting out of it (to the left of the frame)

The attack has come to Ukraine on all fronts with bombs and missiles dropped on targets across the country in the early hours, followed by troop attacks from Crimea, the Donbass, Belgorod and Belarus as well as helicopter landings in Kyiv and at power plants on the Dnieper River. Chernobyl nuclear power plant has also fallen to Russian forces

Helicopters, jets and planes 

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian forces claimed to have shot out of the air up to four Russian KA-52 Alligator attack helicopters  during a battle for Gostomel air base. 

A fifth helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing at the field under heavy fire. 

Just after midday on Thursday, the skies over Kyiv swarmed with a squadron of 20 Russian helicopters which pounded the air base's runway.  

But Ukrainian ground forces launched a fight-back, moving in to retake the air field as jets streaking over the city, shooting down the Russian helicopters.  

A Russian helicopter is shot down somewhere over Kyiv (left), while the wreckage of what appears to be a jet falls from the skies near the capital (right)

The attack underlined just how close the invaders were to the capital. Soon after, the distant roar of fighter jets high above the city stoked another wave of panic. 

The Ukrainians also reported their MiG jets shot down at least one Mi-8 helicopter. 

Ukrainian forces also claimed to have shot down six Russian jets sky over the eastern Donbass region while another plane appeared to fall from the skies near the capital.  

Shortly after 7pm GMT on Tuesday, Russia's defence ministry said a Russian Antonov An-26 transport plane carrying military equipment crashed in its southern Voronezh region near Ukraine, killing all crew members on board. 

Five helicopters were downed or destroyed in the Gostomel region, including this one which was forced to make an emergency landing under heavy fire as Ukrainian forces retook the air field

'During a planned flight to transport military equipment, an An-26 aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces crashed,' the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies. 

'The crew died,' the statement said, without providing any details. 

The defence ministry blamed equipment failure for the crash, which it said had not caused any destruction on the ground.

A defence ministry spokesman, speaking to AFP, confirmed the crash but declined to say how many crew members had been killed.

An-26 planes carry up to six crew members and up to 38 military personnel.

Overall, the Ukrainian armed forces claimed to have shot down five aircraft and six helicopters.   

Tanks  

Ukrainian forces destroyed dozens of Russian tanks along the eastern and northern borders by the end of the day on Thursday, adding two more and a fighting vehicle in Trohizbenko to the tally early on Friday. 

According to the country's defence ministry,  the figure was higher than 30 by the end of Thursday. They also claimed to have destroyed 'up to' 130 armoured combat vehicles.  

Ukrainian forces put up a stiff resistance around Kharkiv where multiple Russian tanks and armoured vehicles were pictured destroyed - with bodies lying in the streets. 

Later, another BMP fighting vehicle was captured, along with the crew of four Russian soldiers, in the same region in eastern Ukraine.  

And around 2pm local time (12pm GMT) the Ukrainian military said troops had destroyed five armoured transport vehicles and a car during fighting at the Vistupovich-Rudnya border point between Ukraine and Belarus. 

A further 15 T-72 tanks were destroyed or damaged by the Ukrainian forces using the Javelin PTRK, an American anti-tank missile, nearly Glukhov in the country's east late this afternoon. 

In other incidents, tank-busting rocket launchers donated by Britain were said to have destroyed Russian tanks, while Javelin missiles gifted by Sweden destroyed a column of enemy vehicles.

A BMP fighting vehicle was captured, along with four Russian soldiers, during fighting near Kharkiv, in the east of Ukraine, on Thursday morning

Troops

Dozens of Russian troops have been captured by Ukrainian forces, officials said today. 

Two, believed to be Rafik Rakhmankulov, 19 and Mgomd Mgomdov, 26, from Kizilyurt, were captured along with a cache of weapons and knives during fighting outside Kharkiv, in the east of Ukraine.  

A further four Russian soldiers, the crew of a BMP fighting vehicle, were captured by Ukrainian forces near Luhansk on Thursday morning. They were pictured lying face-down with their jackets pulled over their heads after being captured by Kyiv's troops. 

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces later said his soldiers had captured the 74th brigade of motorcycle rifles, believed to be a reconnaissance platoon made up of 20 to 50 soldiers,  had surrendered. 

The announcement was posted with a picture of a man, thought to be the head of the brigade, with a bandaged arm and bloody uniform which appeared to say 'Russian Army'.

The body of a soldier, without insignia, who the Ukrainian military claim is a Russian army serviceman killed in fighting, lies on a road outside the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine

Ukrainian forces detain servicemen of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic who were captured during the Thursday morning attack on the town of Schast'ye

The platoon’s commander is said to have claimed he only learned of the invasion on Wednesday and believed they were returning home. 

Konstantin Buynichev allegedly said: ‘Nobody thought that we were going to kill. We were not going to fight – we were collecting information.’

Ukrainian service members were later seen detaining troops from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic after they were captured during an attack on the town of Schast'ye on Thursday morning. 

Estimates of dead and injured were almost non-existent as of early afternoon but one Ukrainian official put the Russian death toll at around 50. 

Servicemen from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic were captured by the Ukrainian military on Thursday morning, hours after Russia launched an invasion of the country

Ukrainian forces detain troops from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic on Thursday morning 

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces later said his soldiers had captured the entire 74th brigade of motorcycle rifles. The announcement was posted with a picture of a man with a bandaged arm and bloody uniform which appeared to say 'Russian Army'

Two Russian troops - believed to be Rafik Rakhmankulov, 19 (left) and Mgomd Mgomdov, 26, from Kizilyurt (right) - have been captured by Ukrainian forces in the country's east

Weapons and knives seized from two Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian units fighting around Kharkiv

The crew of a Russian BMP fighting vehicle are seen face-down with jackets pulled over their heads (left) after being captured by Ukrainian forces (their vehicle is pictured, right)