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Ukraine’s president has declared martial law and urged citizens not to panic as Russia launched military strikes on the country, while the country’s foreign minister called it a “full-scale invasion”.
Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the action during a televised address early on Thursday morning, saying the move was a response to threats from Ukraine.
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as well as Odesa and Kharkiv following Mr Putin’s announcement that the military operation had begun.
MAIN POINTS

Vladimir Putin announces military operation in eastern Ukraine
Ukraine’s president declares martial law
Missiles fired at several Ukrainian cities
Russia says it has ‘incapacitated’ infrastructure of Ukraine’s military bases
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Russia has begun ‘full-scale attack’
Johnson says Putin has ‘chosen path of bloodshed’
Biden says ‘severe sanctions’ will be imposed
Macron calls for end to military action
EU to hold emergency meeting

The Russian Defence Ministry said the Russian strikes have “suppressed air defence means of the Ukrainian military,” adding that the infrastructure of Ukraine’s military bases has been “incapacitated”.
It denied claims that a Russian warplane was shot down over Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, reported it has shot down five Russian aircraft while fending off the attack on the country.
Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast on Thursday, officials and media said.
Earlier, the sound of distant blasts were picked up in a live broadcast from US outlet CNN, causing reporter Matthew Chance to put on a flak jacket.
The Ukrainian minister of foreign affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, said that Russia has launched a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine”.
Mr Kuleba said that Ukraine would defend itself against the Russian aggression “and will win”.
He said: “Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador at the United Nations has told the Security Council that Mr Putin has “declared war on Ukraine”.
He also pressed his Russian counterpart to state that Russia will not shell and bomb Ukrainian cities.
Operations
Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said that if Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia was not in a position to give a positive answer, he should relinquish the presidency of the Security Council, which Russia holds this month.
The Ukrainian then asked for another emergency meeting of the Security Council, calling on the UN body “to stop the war because it’s too late to talk about de-escalation”.
Mr Kyslytsya then asked if he should play the video of Mr Putin announcing military operations being launched in Ukraine.
Mr Nebenzia replied: “This isn’t called a war. This is called a special military operation in Donbas.”
British prime minister Boris Johnson said Mr Putin has “chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction” with his attack on Ukraine and that the UK and its allies would respond “decisively”.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Mr Johnson will chair a Cobra committee meeting at 7.30am to discuss the response to the “horrific attacks”. In a statement on Twitter, Mr Johnson said he had spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to discuss “next steps”.
French president Emmanuel Macron condemned Russia’s military action called on Moscow to end the operation immediately.
“France strongly condemns the decision of Russia to start a war with Ukraine. Russia must immediately put an end to its military operations,” wrote Mr Macron on his Twitter account.
US President Joe Biden, reacting to an invasion the United States had been predicting for weeks, said his prayers were with the people of Ukraine “as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack”, while promising tough sanctions in response.
“I will be meeting with the leaders of the G7, and the United States and our allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia,” Mr Biden said in a statement.
European Union leaders will discuss a further sanctions package on Russia at an emergency meeting later on Thursday, the EU said in a statement. Nato ambassadors are also set to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday.
‘Devastating’
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia’s attack on Ukraine was “the saddest moment” of his five-year tenure.
Mr Guterres urged the Russian president to withdraw his troops and added: “In the name of humanity do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century, with consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federation, but with an impact we cannot even foresee in relation to the consequences for the global economy.”
“What is clear for me is that this war doesn’t make any sense,” Mr Guterres added, stressing that it violates the UN Charter and would cause a level of suffering that Europe has not known since at least the 1990s Balkans crisis. – AP