Ukrainians have recorded footage of war unfolding before their eyes with cruise missiles flying overhead, Russian troops parachuting in and devastating explosions around them.
Russia today launched all-out war on Ukraine with a multi-pronged assault on the country from the north, south and east after Vladimir Putin personally gave the order for his forces to attack.
Extraordinary video showed what appeared to be a cruise missile slamming into Ivano-Frankivsk airport, also in the west. Russian troops were filmed parachuting into Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city which sits on the eastern border with Russia.
While video filmed in Odessa, in the country’s southwestern corner, showed the sky light up bright white by an explosion. Similar footage from Kharkiv showed a massive explosion within the city, though it was not clear what the target was.
Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in the east of Ukraine all reported coming under attack, but blasts were also reported in the west – in Zhytomyr and Lviv, close to the border with Poland.
Missile strike on airport in Ukraine’s east
Footage from Western Ukraine showed a missile soaring in and landing on an already smoking building at an airport in the region. The building bursts into flames before a large cloud of dark smoke rises over the area
Footage from Western Ukraine showed a missile soaring in and landing on an already smoking building at Ivano-Frankivsk airport. The building appears to burst into flames before a large cloud of dark smoke rises over the area.
Cruise missiles, guided bombs and GRAD rockets also took out targets from east to west – aimed at airfields, military bases, ammo dumps, and command posts.
Russian President Putin has targeted airports across Ukraine, among them Chuguyev airport near Kharkiv, in the country’s east in what appears to be a strategic bid to cripple the country and take control of the skies as soldiers squeeze from the north, east and south.
Moscow has boasted of taking full control of the skies – though Ukraine reported that six Russian jets were shot out of the sky over the eastern Donbass region with 50 Russian troops killed.
Massive explosion in Kharkiv
Footage from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s largest city which sits on the eastern border with Russia, showed an explosion rocking the region
Footage from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city which sits on the eastern border with Russia, showed an explosion rocking the region.
US intelligence chiefs had already said the city was at particular risk of being targeted in a Russian invasion as it is close to the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Facebook that the Russian military had launched missile strikes on Ukrainian military command facilities, air bases and military depots in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro.
And on Wednesday night, a huge military convoy of more than 100 trucks with soldiers were heading in the direction of the city.
Missing shell hits passerby cyclist
This is the moment a passerby cyclist was hit by a shell as it missed its target in Uman in the Cherkassy region of Ukraine
This is the moment a passerby cyclist was hit by a shell as it missed its target in Uman in the Cherkassy region of Ukraine.
Reports stated that at least one civilian was killed and five others wounded in the missile attack, which sparked an evacuation of the population within a 19 mile radius of the nearby military unit.
Russian paratroopers parachute into Ukraine
Video filmed in Kharkiv, close to Ukraine’s border with Russia, purported to show Russian troops parachuting into the country
Video filmed in Kharkiv, close to Ukraine’s border with Russia, purported to show Russian troops parachuting into the country.
The footage, taken in the daylight, shows on of several attacks on Ukraine from all fronts, with bombs and missiles striking targets across the country, ground forces rolling in from Belarus, Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.
An apartment block in Kharkiv was struck, causing civilian casualties, during the early hours before troops were seen arriving in the east of Ukraine.
Explosion in Odessa
Video from Krasnopillia, near Odessa in the southwestern corner of Ukraine purported to show part of a ground invasion with blinding bright light and a smoke cloud hanging over the area
Video from Krasnopillia, near Odessa in the southwestern corner of Ukraine, showed the night sky lit up bright white following an explosion.
It came after Vladimir Putin gave an extraordinary early-morning address to the Russian nation – delivered during a UN meeting aimed at avoiding war – in which he declared a ‘special military operation’ to ‘de-militarise’ and ‘de-Nazify’ Ukraine in what amounted to a outright declaration of war.
The Russian strongman also issued a chilling warning to any country thinking of coming to Ukraine’s aid, vowing ‘consequences greater than any you have faced in history’.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the assault as a ‘full-scale invasion’ and said Ukraine will ‘defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.’
Air raid warning sirens blare in Kiev
Video filmed in the capital Kiev showed air sirens wailing as residents woke up to a Russian invasion after weeks of warnings that Putin was preparing a land, air and sea assault
Video filmed in the capital Kiev showed air sirens wailing as residents woke up to a Russian invasion after weeks of warnings that Putin was preparing a land, air and sea assault.
Terrified citizens rushed to bomb shelters through the night despite no air raid warnings sounded in the capital until early morning – only the frequent muffled crump of missile or air strikes breaking through the pre-dawn stillness.
Others reported sheltering in subways and basements as the sounds of distant explosions became a constant backdrop.
Images from Kiev showed highways out of the city gridlocked as people tried to flee after Russian bombs started to fall – but with the whole country under simultaneous attack, there was little safety to be found.
Tanks roll in from Belarus
Footage showed tanks rolling into Ukraine from Belarus after dictator Alexander Lukashenko threw his forces into the fight
Footage showed tanks rolling into Ukraine from Belarus after dictator Alexander Lukashenko threw his forces into the fight.
The CCTV footage at Belarusian-Ukrainian checkpoint Senkovka-Veselovka captured at least four T-72B tanks, at least eight MT-LB tractors, and a Ural truck crossing the border.
Russia had been massing troops along its border with Ukraine since October but added to its arsenal by deploying soldiers to Belarus in January, ostensibly for war games.
Fighters jets spotted over Ukrainian cities
Video this morning showed what was thought to be Russian jets flying over major cities in Ukraine – among them helicopters as well as fighter jets
Video this morning showed what was thought to be Russian jets flying over major cities in Ukraine – among them helicopters as well as fighter jets.
Terrified citizens sheltered indoors, in subways and basements as air raid siren warnings wailed into the morning after Putin ordered his troops into the country overnight.
Russian fighter jet flies over Dnipro
Video posted online showed a fighter jet flying over Dnipro, in the centre-east of Ukraine, in the early hours of the morning
Video posted online showed a fighter jet flying over Dnipro, in the centre-east of Ukraine, in the early hours of the morning.
The moon was still visible as the jet soared over the city hours after Putin ordered an all-out invasion of Ukraine by his forces who have been massed on the border in recent months.
Russian forces roll into Kharkiv
Russian forces were seen arriving in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine this morning. Armoured vehicles were spotted driving on the outskirts of the city as tanks and troops were seen stopping civilians as they tried to leave the area in their cars
Russian forces were seen arriving in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine this morning hours after Putin ordered troops to launch an invasion of the country – as terrified residents tried to flee.
Armoured vehicles were spotted driving on the outskirts of the city as tanks and troops were seen stopping civilians as they tried to leave the area in their cars.
Missiles rained down in the city, which US intelligence chiefs had warned was at particular risk of being targeted in a Russian invasion as it is close to the Ukrainian-Russian border, in the early hours.
Debris from Russian missile found in Kiev
Footage showed the debris of an X-32 missile which landed in Kiev this morning, hours after Putin ordered an all-out invasion of Ukraine
Footage showed the debris of an X-32 missile which landed in Kiev this morning, hours after Putin ordered an all-out invasion of Ukraine.
Cruise missiles, guided bombs and GRAD rockets took out targets from east to west – aimed at airfields, military bases, ammo dumps, and command posts including in the capital.
