Minutes after Vladimir Putin ended weeks of agonised speculation by announcing a “special military operation” at dawn on Thursday, explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv. According to Ukrainian officials, the initial wave of strikes appeared to involve cruise missiles, artillery and airstrikes, which struck military infrastructure and border positions, including airbases.
Russian troops have entered the country from the north, east and south, seemingly targeting the capital, Kyiv and the cities of Kharkiv and Kherson respectively.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, responded to the invasion by declaring martial law and saying Kyiv would issue weapons to every Ukrainian who wanted to defend their country. As Ukrainian diplomats pleaded with the world to stop the Russian aggression, Zelenskiy warned of a bleak return to the past.
By mid-afternoon on Thursday, Russia’s defence ministry claimed to have “neutralised” Ukraine’s airbases and air defences, destroying 74 military ground facilities, including 11 airfields, three command posts and 18 radar stations for anti-aircraft missile systems. Ukrainian authorities said Russia had carried out 203 attacks and that fighting was raging across almost the entire territory.
Thousands of Ukrainians are already on the move and leaving the country, with tens of thousands more preparing to flee, after the Russian attack ordered by Vladimir Putin. Videos and photos on social media show lines of cars moving out of cities and heading west, as well as an increase of people on foot near the southern and western borders.
Joe Biden ordered broad new sanctions targeting four Russian banks, oligarchs and high-tech sectors. The US president also said 7,000 additional troops would be deployed to Germany. “Putin is the aggressor,” Biden said. “Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences.”
The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the “largest ever” set of economic sanctions on Russia, including pushing to end Russia’s use of the Swift international payment systems, freezing assets of all major Russian banks, limiting cash held by Russian nationals in UK banks, and sanctioning more than 100 individuals and entities.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, voiced his anger as EU heads of state and government appeared to hold back from imposing the potentially most damaging sanction on Russia. With casualties mounting, Kuleba warned that European and US politicians would have “blood on their hands” if they decided against blocking Russia from the Swift system, through which it receives foreign currency.