On Thursday, Ukraine said Vladimir Putin had launched a “full-scale invasion”, following the Russian president announcing a “special military operation” in the east of the country. After his televised address, explosions were reported in the outskirts of the cities of Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Mariupol, as well as the capital Kiev.
Footage and pictures show smoke rising in areas across Ukraine.
Twitter account @gt_lozt posed a video showing smoke rising following an explosion at Ochakiv Port in Mykolaiv Oblast.
A video posted by BNO News showed an apartment complex near Ukraine’s Kharkiv hit by an airstrike, causing an unknown number of casualties.
Explosions were also seen and heard in Kyiv and Kharkiv regions because of missile strikes by Russia.
The rocket’s payload failed to explode on impact and it was left sticking out of the pavement in the city close to an Orthodox church.
CIT, an open-source research group, confirmed that the video was shot in Kharkiv and that the tali section resembled a Smerch MLRS rocket.
The use of those rockets against population centres is a “war crime,” the group claims.
According to Reuters, the Ukrainian border guard holds Russian military columns have crossed the Ukrainian border into Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions.
Ukraine’s interior ministry adviser says shelling across Ukraine has killed one and wounded another in Brovary in the Kyiv region.
Ukraine’s military added two Russian tanks and several trucks in eastern Ukraine were seen while Russia is moving military equipment across from annexed Crimea.
Russian-backed separatists say they now control two towns in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, according to a report from RIA new agency.
This report was confirmed by Ukraine police who later said two villages in Luhansk region seized.
Russia’s defence ministry said it has taken out military infrastructure at Ukrainian air bases and degraded Ukraine’s air defences, Russian news agencies reported.
The Russian ministry denied reports that one of its aircraft had been downed over Ukraine. Ukraine’s military said earlier that five Russian planes and one helicopter had been shot down over its Luhansk region.
Source: Express.co.uk