Russia has officially launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine under order from President Vladimir Putin.
The "special military operation" was announced by Putin in the early hours on Thursday, 24 February, in which he warned the West will face "consequences never encountered in your history" should they try to intervene.
https://twitter.com/TIME/status/1496711845285187592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1496711845285187592%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.joe.co.uk%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D319081action%3Dedit
Following initial reports of airstrikes and explosions across cities such as Kyiv, Podilsk, Kharkiv, Mariupol and more, it has since been confirmed that nearly all major parts of Ukraine have been subject to Russian attacks.
This is just one of many videos online showing city skylines being lit up by the explosions and locals wake up to the sound of shelling and explosions:
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1496752166690000898?s=20&t=vji_qG-1XWrrn1mHMj6CJw
As of 9am on Thursday morning, at least eight people had already been confirmed dead, with one attack in Podilsk, a city just outside Odessa, claiming six lives, while another seven were injured. At least 19 people are also still unaccounted for.
As well as shelling cities and sending military vehicles into the north and south of the country through Belarus and Crimea, Putin's operation has also targeted key military locations, with port cities, military bases and airports being hit with airstrikes.
https://twitter.com/W4RW4ATCHER/status/1496733870074519555?s=20&t=CpvkqmcRtck8Ni2BR2KC6g
https://twitter.com/christogrozev/status/1496725796534341634?s=20&t=CpvkqmcRtck8Ni2BR2KC6g
In terms of national defence, it has been reported that one attack helicopter and five planes have managed to be taken down by the Ukrainian army.
As convoys of trucks and tanks continue to sweep through the nation, how the full-scale invasion of Ukraine is managed on the ground remains to be seen.
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1496764635818692613?s=20&t=bt55Qlbj_5hTozgZmHUbnQ
While Putin has claimed he had moved to defend the Donbas region, which he claimed "suffered abuse and genocide from the Kyiv regime" during the 2014 annexation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged his people to "stay calm" and "stay home", reassuring them that "the army is working" and that the US is beginning to gather "international support."
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1496743100064342017?s=20&t=svrqbZPqbwwS8JNeJByl0g
