The explosions started after 4.50 a.m. local time (0250GMT) in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkov, Kramatorsk, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, and Odessa, as well as the capital city Kyiv, all under attack by Russian forces.
Amid several explosions in Kyiv, alarms were heard all around the city, warning the public to seek shelter from Russia’s long-feared intervention.
While some civilians tried to leave the city, others took shelter in subway stations and basements.
An apartment complex in the northeast city of Kharkiv was damaged by the Russian attacks. At least one person was injured, and another at the scene was lying on the ground.
Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service announced that Russia had launched an attack on Ukraine from Belarus to the northwest as well as from the occupied peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow illegally seized in 2014.
The statement said the attack was carried out by Russian forces supported by Belarus.
It added that border troops were attacked and that there were also attacks in the cities of Luhansk, Sumi, Chernihiv, and Zhytomyr, all areas along Ukraine’s eastern and northwestern borders.
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