Russian airborne forces have successfully conducted a landing operation at the Gostomel airfield in a suburb of Kiev and blockaded the Ukrainian capital city from the west, the Russian Defense Ministry said Friday.

During the capture of the airfield on Thursday, more than 200 members of Ukraine's special units were killed and there were no casualties in the Russian Armed Forces, the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

The Russian military will not strike residential areas of Kiev and were taking all measures to prevent casualties among civilians, he said.