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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announces a military operation in Ukraine https://t.co/YGkiBS8DgG pic.twitter.com/OwKPpNgwy1
— TIME (@TIME) February 24, 2022
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:
Minutes after President Vladimir Putin of Russia announced a military operation in eastern Ukraine, explosions were visible near the city of Kharkiv. By early Thursday morning, several Ukrainian cities were under attack.
Follow updates on the invasion. https://t.co/DYJz87LmcM pic.twitter.com/o2FQHYrqsu
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 24, 2022
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
! Ukraine's central military command reports Russia bombed several airports, including Kyiv Boryspil, Nikolaev, Kramatorsk, Kherson. Kharkiv military airport is burning. pic.twitter.com/IOrfGZgPL4
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) February 24, 2022
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.
#UPDATE Russia's ground forces have crossed into Ukraine from several directions, Ukraine's border guard service says.
Russian tanks and other equipment crossed the frontier in several northern regions, as well as from Kremlin-annexed Crimea in the south, the agency says pic.twitter.com/HtNzhMPMFy
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) February 24, 2022
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.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine declared martial law in the country because of the Russian invasion.
Speaking in a TV address on Thursday morning, he did not clarify what restrictions would be in place. https://t.co/fGQ0BExS5r pic.twitter.com/9SFvnle5GX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 24, 2022
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
