Ukrainian soldiers ride in a military vehicle in Mariupol, Ukraine, on February 24, 2022.
AP Photo/Sergei Grits
- Russia attacked Ukraine early Thursday morning, with reports of strikes and explosion across the country.
- Ukraine’s foreign minister said Russia “launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
- The foreign ministry said Russia attacked multiple Ukrainian cities “from different directions.”
Ukraine said on Thursday that Russia had launched a “full-scale invasion” of the country and was attacking from multiple directions.
Russia attacked Ukraine early Thursday morning, launching a new war in Europe for the first time in years.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Russia was “launching attacks on peaceful Ukrainian cities from different directions, including from the territory of the temporary occupied Donbas and Crimea, as well as from South-East region.”
“This is an act of war, an attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, a brutal violation of the UN Charter, basic norms and principles of the international law,” it said.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, tweeted: “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.”
The foreign ministry statement also called for even harsher sanctions on Russia, something the UK and EU said they were working on.
Ukraine’s border guard said separate Russian military columns had crossed into Ukraine, into three regions on Thursday: Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk, Reuters reported.
The BBC reported that missile strikes and explosions were heard in multiple places across Ukraine.
