Russian forces attacked cities across Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin ordered a military operation aimed at demilitarising the country. Shortly after Putin made the announcement in a special televised address, Ukraine said that the invasion has begun and Russia is targeting military facilities.
"There have just been missiles on the military headquarters, airports, military warehouses, near Kyiv, Kharkov, Dnieper. Gunfire at the border is underway," Anton Gerashchenko, Ukraine's deputy interior minister, said in a statement on his official Facebook page.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also confirmed that the country was under attack. He said that Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapon strikes.
"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes," Mr Kuleba said in a tweet.
"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," he said.
The Russian defence ministry said it was targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure with precision weapons. "Military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, and aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being disabled with high-precision weapons," the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
Interfax Ukraine reported rocket attacks on military facilities throughout Ukraine and that Russian troops had landed in the southern port cities of Odessa and Mariupol. It also reported staff and passengers evacuating Kyiv's Boryspil airport.
Putin's announcement prompted outrage from Joe Biden who warned of a "catastrophic loss of life".
Weeks of intense diplomacy to avert war and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.
