The war in eastern Europe begins. Russian troops fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on their coastal areas on Thursday, officials and media said, after President Vladimir Putin authorized "special military operations" in the east.
According to a Reuters report on Thursday (24/02) evening, shortly after Putin spoke in a nationally broadcast speech by the Russian government, explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, before dawn local time.
Gunfire also sounded near the capital's main airport, the Interfax news agency said, and sirens sounded throughout the city.
"Putin has just deployed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under attack," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR).
"This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now."
US President Joe Biden, reacting to the invasion the United States had been predicting for weeks, said his prayers were with the Ukrainian people "as they suffer an unwarranted and unjustified attack", while promising tough sanctions in response.
"I will meet with G7 leaders, and the United States and our allies and partners will impose severe sanctions on Russia," Biden said in a statement.
Russia has demanded an end to NATO's expansion into the east and Putin reiterated his position that Ukraine's membership in the US-led Atlantic military alliance is unacceptable.
He said he had allowed military action after Russia had no choice but to defend itself against the so-called threat from modern Ukraine, a democratic nation of 44 million people.
"Russia cannot feel safe, thrive and live with the constant threats emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine," Putin said. "All responsibility for the bloodshed will rest with the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had carried out missile strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards, and explosions had been heard in many cities. An official also reported relentless cyber attacks.
Zelenskiy said martial law had been declared and he had called on world leaders to impose all possible sanctions on Russia, including against Putin, who he says wants to destroy the Ukrainian state.
Three hours after Putin gave his order, Russia's Defense Ministry said it had destroyed military infrastructure at a Ukrainian air base and crippled its air defenses, Russian media reported.
