Russian troops have launched a broad assault on Ukraine from all sides. The attack began before dawn and brought explosions to the Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and other cities.
Ukraine’s leadership said Thursday dozens people have been killed and wounded so far in what it called a “full-scale war” targeting the country from the east, north and south.
The first attacks came from the air, with shelling and missile strikes reported around the country.
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Ukrainian authorities later described ground invasions in multiple regions, and border guards released video of a line of Russian military vehicles crossing into Ukraine’s government-held territory.
Russian troops were seen breaking through the Kyiv region, NBC News reports, advancing from the north past the state border between the capital city and Belarus, Ukraine's Ministry of the Interior said.
In a post to its Telegram channel, the ministry said Russian military personnel and tanks had entered through the Vilcha checkpoint, less than 100 miles north of the capital on a road which runs directly to the city.
See How Russia's Attacks on Ukraine Unfolded
There have been dozens of reports of attacks in Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a military invasion into the country on Feb. 23, 2022.
Note: Timeline in Eastern Time
Source: NBC News
Credit: Andrew Williams/NBC
Russian forces seized control of the now-unused Chernobyl plant and its surrounding exclusion zone after a fierce battle. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency called for “maximum restraint” to avoid actions that could put Ukraine’s nuclear facilities at risk. Earlier, a Ukrainian official told the AP that Russian shelling hit a radioactive waste repository, with a reported increase in radiation levels.
Pictures from the Russian Attacks on Ukraine
Large parts of the Chernobyl Zone have been closed to the public for decades after a nuclear power reactor melted down there during the Soviet Union's reign in 1986, causing the release of large amounts of radiation in the air across Europe.
Some of most intense fighting was outside of Kharkiv in the northeast, according to a senior U.S. Defense Department official.
In an address, President Volodymyr said 137 soldiers were killed and 316 injured on Thursday Feb. 24, noting that all border guards defending Zmiinyi island died.
Russian ground forces were also reported advancing from the east through Donetsk and Luhansk, the two separatist-held areas recognized by Russian President Vladimir Putin as independent this week in a prelude to the attack, and from Crimea, the southern region that Russia annexed in 2014.
A senior U.S. defense official told the AP that Thursday's attack by Russia appears to be the first phase in what will likely be a multiple phased, large-scale invasion.
This is a live update. Click here for complete coverage of the crisis in Ukraine.
