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PremiumAfter weeks of denying plans to attack neighbouring Ukraine, Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast on Thursday.
Russia launched a barrage of missile, artillery and air attacks early today, while Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said that the capital, Kyiv, was being targeted and urged citizens to go to shelters. Ukraine’s border guard said that it was being shelled from five regions, including from Crimea in the south and Belarus to the north, and that Russian forces had crossed into the country.
Kyiv may fall to Russian forces within hours as Ukraine’s air defenses have been effectively eliminated, according to a senior Western intelligence official.
Russian troops are advancing toward Ukraine down both sides of the Dnieper river and look set to take the capital, the official said.
The idea of sanctioning Russia’s Putin personally was “not a bluff" and remains “on the table" as the US ratchets up its response to the invasion of Ukraine, Biden said in his appearance at the White House on Thursday.
But the US leader also conceded that even the sweeping sanctions targeting Russia’s financial sector imposed Thursday would take time to have an impact, and that he didn’t believe their announcement would cause Putin to stand down his invasion.
The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on 24 Belarusian individuals and organizations "due to Belarus's support for, and facilitation of, the invasion" of Ukraine by Russia.
"Today's action focuses on Belarus's defense sector and financial institutions, two areas in which Belarus has especially close ties to Russia," the US Treasury said in a statement.
Biden denounced Russia’s “brutal assault" in a “premeditated attack" on Ukraine in a speech Thursday from the East Room of the White House and said he would impose a “severe cost on the Russian economy."
The U.S. is implementing export controls designed to cut Russia off from semiconductors and other advanced technology crucial to the military, biotechnology, and aerospace industries. Rules allow the U.S. to restrict exports to Russia from anywhere in the world using American technology, including software.
Ukrainian forces battled Russian invaders on three sides on Thursday after Moscow mounted an assault by land, sea and air in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
UK Thursday added 11 new sanctions listings on Russia
US President Joe Biden met with G7 allies Thursday to hammer out a raft of new sanctions against Russia after it invaded Ukraine, and was shortly to speak to the American people on a crisis that he warns will cause "catastrophic loss of life."
After a virtual, closed-door meeting which lasted an hour and 10 minutes, the group of rich Western democracies -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States -- said in a joint statement that Russia posed "a serious threat to the rules-based international order."
A newly discovered piece of destructive software found circulating in Ukraine has hit hundreds of computers, according to researchers at the cybersecurity firm ESET, part of what Ukrainian officials said was an intensifying wave of hacks aimed at the country.
The company said on Twitter that the data wiping program had been installed on hundreds of machines in the country, an attack it said had likely been in the works for the past couple of months.
South Ukraine region Thursday said that 13 civilians and 9 troops were killed so far.
Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine's government pleaded for help as it said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a “full-scale war" that could rewrite the geopolitical order.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts business summit to discuss sanctions in Moscow.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says 'no other way' to defend Russia other than invading Ukraine.
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova said on Thursday that the Ukrainian military was fighting back against a Russian invasion and that "all Ukrainians" would resist the assault.
The Red Cross chief voiced alarm Thursday at the escalating conflict in Ukraine, with the risk of death and destruction at a scale that is "frightening to contemplate".
"I fear increased suffering, with the potential of massive casualty numbers and extensive destruction of civilian objects like water and electricity plants," Peter Maurer, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said in a statement.
He warned as well of "mass displacement, trauma, family separation and missing persons".
The United States believes Russia's invasion of Ukraine is designed to decapitate Ukraine's government and one of the three main axes of assault is directed at the capital Kyiv, a senior U.S. defense official said on Thursday.
"The indications we've seen thus far, in just these first, not even 12 hours, are in keeping with our assessment earlier, that would be his goal: to decapitate this government," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Ukraine demanded Thursday that Russian banks be excluded from the international SWIFT financial transfer network, as Western capitals considered how to ramp up sanctions in the wake of Moscow's invasion.
President Volodymyr Zelensky made the appeal after a call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, adding: "A package of extra severe sanctions against Russia from the EU is already arriving."
India is focusing on evacuating its 16,000 nationals still stuck in Ukraine, the South Asian nation's foreign secretary told reporters late on Thursday after Russian forces mounted a mass assault by land, air and sea.
Russian and Ukrainian forces were on Thursday battling for an airbase on the northern outskirts of Kyiv after dozens of attack helicopters swooped south from Belarus towards the capital.
Meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security underway to take stock of situation in Ukraine: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla
As many as 4,000 Indian nationals have already left Ukraine in the past few days. The MEA control room in Delhi has got 980 calls and 850 emails, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla says.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin shortly, confirm Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Thursday said the EU member had stopped issuing visas to Russian citizens in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"We are suspending the processing of visa applications from Russian nationals at all our consular offices with the exception of humanitarian cases," Fiala told reporters.
The mayor of Ukraine's capital of Kyiv ordered a curfew on Thursday in comments shown on television after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine.
Zelensky says Ukraine troops fighting to prevent repeat of Chernobyl. "Russian occupation forces are trying to seize the #Chornobyl_NPP. Our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated. Reported this to @SwedishPM. This is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy said in a tweet.
The Centre on Thursday said Indian passengers from Ukraine can return via Qatar, with aviation industry experts stating that civilian flights will restart from Ukraine only when its airspace opens.
Currently 20,000 Indians, mostly students, are stranded in Ukraine.
Russian and Ukrainian forces are battling for control of an airbase on the northern outskirts of Kyiv, a senior Ukrainian officer said Thursday, as dozens of attack helicopters swooped on the area.
"Fighting is underway for Gostomel airfield," armed forces chief Valeriy Zaluzhny said in a statement posted online. Shortly earlier, AFP reporters had seen helicopters flying low over the city from the north.
Embassy of India in Ukraine accommodates more than 200 Indian students at school near the Embassy in Kyiv.
Appropriate measures are being taken to bring home Karnataka students stranded in Ukraine. Indian Embassy in Ukraine has issued suitable guidelines for the safety of students. We're in constant touch with the Indian Embassy in Ukraine: Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security. – ANI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi likely to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin tonight, according to reports.
Poland said Thursday it will open nine reception centres along its border with Ukraine in anticipation of an influx of refugees after Russia invaded the country.
The missile fragment pierced the ceiling of Mikhail Shcherbakov’s apartment in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. A Russian attack, after weeks of warnings, had hit home.
“I heard noise and woke up. I realized it sounded like artillery," Shcherbakov said. He jumped from the couch and ran to wake his mother, and something exploded behind him.
The missile left a nearby computer and teacup shrouded with dust, instant artifacts of Europe’s latest crisis.
Russia's defence ministry said it had destroyed 74 above-ground military infrastructure facilities in Ukraine on Thursday, including 11 aerodromes, the RIA news agency reported.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "dictator".
Johnson also termed Russia's invasion of Ukraine a "hideous and barbaric venture", adding that Western allies are preparing a "massive package of sanctions" against Moscow.
"We cannot and will not just look away," Boris Johnson told the people of Ukraine.
EU chief Charles Michel on Thursday urged Belarus to "not take part" in Russia's military assault on Ukraine, ahead of an emergency European Union summit to decide new sanctions on Moscow over its invasion.
In an appeal to Belarus and its people during a media conference at NATO headquarters, Michel said: "You have the choice not to follow Russia's destructive action. You have the choice not to take part in this needless tragedy against your neighbours in Ukraine."
- Putin announces 'operation'
- 'Full-scale invasion'
- Russians reach Kyiv region
- Dozens dead
- NATO acts
- Johnson vows massive sanctions
- Airbases, defences 'destroyed'
- Moldova closes airspace
- Oil prices soar
- European stocks slump
- Russian bourses suspended
- Shipping closed
The UN refugee chief warned Thursday Russia's invasion of Ukraine would have "devastating" humanitarian consequences and urged neighbouring countries to keep borders open to those fleeing the violence.
"We are gravely concerned about the fast-deteriorating situation and ongoing military action in Ukraine," Felippo Grandi said in a statement.
"The humanitarian consequences on civilian populations will be devastating. There are no winners in war but countless lives will be torn apart."
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday warned Russia of an uncompromising response to its attack on Ukraine, which he described as a turning point in European history.
"We will respond without weakness to this act of war, with calm, determination and unity," Macron said in an address to the nation, adding that the events were a "turning point in the history of Europe and our country" that would have "deep and lasting consequences for our lives".
Ukraine military plane with 14 aboard crashes near Kyiv, as per emergency service
A Ukrainian military plane was shot down on Thursday and five people were killed, Ukrainian police and the state emergency service said, as its armed forces sought to defend against a massive Russian military operation.
Ukraine on Thursday fought Russian forces along practically its entire border with Russia, and there was fierce fighting in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa and at a military airport near Kyiv, an adviser to the presidential office said.
The Indian embassy in Ukraine issued a third advisory today asking Indian citizens living in the east European nation to go to bomb shelters if they hear air raid sirens in the capital city Kyiv.
South Korea will join international economic sanctions against Russia over its "armed invasion" of Ukraine, President Moon Jae-in said Thursday.
"The sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine must be guaranteed," Moon said, in a statement issued by Seoul's presidential Blue House.
Eighteen people died Thursday in an air strike on a military base near Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odessa, the local administration said.
"Eighteen died -- eight men and 10 women. At the moment, we are still digging through the rubble," the Odessa regional administration said in a statement.
The United States has called on Russia to "immediately cease its military action and withdraw all its forces from in and around Ukraine".
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that the Western military alliance will deploy capabilities and forces on its territory after Russian invaded Ukraine, saying it put over 100 warplanes on high alert.
European stock markets tumbled on Thursday as Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, causing panic on trading floors.
Frankfurt's DAX index fell by 5.2 percent, the Paris CAC 40 dropped 5.0 percent and the Milan FTSE MIB index was down by 5.1 percent as of 1110 GMT. The European benchmark EURO STOXX 50 meanwhile plummeted 5.2 percent.
