Russian troops are attacking Ukrainian forces and military bases throughout the eastern European country, with assaults witnessed near the capital of Kyiv as well as at the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
Anger towards Vladimir Putin has been swift, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying Russia has attacked Ukraine as Nazi Germany did during World War II. He said Russia has "embarked on a path of evil" and Ukraine will defend itself and not give up.
New Zealand on Thursday night announced a range of measures in response to Russia's actions, including travel bans against Russian government officials, the prohibition of exporting goods to the Russian military and the suspension of engagement with Russian foreign officials.
What you need to know:
- Russia has invaded the eastern European country of Ukraine after earlier this week declaring two regions within it to be independent
- Vladimir Putin claims he doesn't want to occupy Ukraine, but demilitarise it and "de-Nazify" the nation
- Within moments of Putin announcing a special military operation on Thursday, explosions were heard throughout Ukraine with missile strikes recorded against several Ukrainian bases
- Fighting is now underway across the country, with Russian forces advancing into Ukraine from northern, eastern and southern border points. That includes from Belarus, where it's reported Belarusian forces are supporting Russia
- Russian troops are currently on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and fighting to capture the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
- Condemnation of Russia's actions has been swift, with world leaders preparing an onslaught of sanctions against the invading country. New Zealand has laid out several measures it is responding with, including travel bans and export controls
7:20am - Kiwi journalist in Kyiv Tom Mutch told AM he was woken by the sounds of missiles raining down.
He said people in Ukraine are "walking around the streets carrying weapons now".
"People are very, very concerned for their safety because we just don't know what Russia will use…people here are extremely worried that being said there is no immediate sense of panic. There's been no looting or rioting… or fighting or signs of disunity.
Mutch said it's devastating to see the damage already done by Russia.
7:15am - Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is speaking to AM.
She says Putin wants Ukraine to be a "compliant state" and not be part of NATO. She says he has manufactured excuses for why he needs to invade.
"He could go all the way to occupy the country," Clark says.
While Putin has said he didn't want to occupy Ukraine, Clark points out that much of what Putin has recently said has turned out to be false.
The former PM says Russia appears to want to cut off much of the Ukrainian army, which is in the east of the country. Russian troops have been entering from the north, east and south.
"I think [Putin] is very serious. If he is getting any advice, it is very bad advice," Clark tells AM.
Putin has dug in over his view that the demise of the Soviet Union was a tragedy, Clark says.
"If he can control Ukraine, one then worries about Moldova."
Moldova is directly south of Ukraine.
"This is without doubt the most boldness and most ruthless of these moves."
7:05am - Ukraine's port city of Mariupol is coming under heavy fire with hundreds of explosions reportedly heard there.
It comes after the United States earlier said it believes Russia's key objective is to "decapitate" Ukraine's government.
"The indications we've seen thus far, in just these first, not even 12 hours, are in keeping with our assessment earlier, that would be his goal: to decapitate this government," a senior defence official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"The targets, thus far... have been primarily focused on military and air defense. So barracks, ammunition warehouses, nearly 10 airfields targeted."
7am - If you're just joining us, here are the key points courtesy of Reuters:
- Ukrainian forces battled Russian invaders on three sides on Thursday after Moscow mounted an assault by land, sea and air in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
- Missiles rained down on Ukrainian targets. Kyiv reported troops pouring across the borders with Russia and Belarus from the north and east, and landing on the coasts from the Black Sea in the southwest and Azov Sea in the southeast.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said his aim was to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine was listening to the sound of a new iron curtain falling as Russian troops advanced across his country, and he warned that other European countries may be next.
- U.S. President Joe Biden said the Group of Seven industrialized nations had agreed to move forward on "devastating packages of sanctions and other economic measures to hold Russia to account."
- NATO will reinforce troops on its eastern flank but has no plans to deploy any in Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.
- European Union leaders will agree to further sanctions on Russia that would have "massive and severe" consequences for Moscow, according to a draft of their summit conclusions.
- Russia would respond with "tit-for-tat" measures, a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.
- The Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been captured by Russian forces, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office said.
- European countries began preparing to receive people fleeing Ukraine.
- The mayor of Kyiv imposed a curfew after Russia invaded Ukraine and the capital echoed throughout the day to the sound of gunfire, sirens and explosions.
- Stock markets tumbled. Russia's rouble hit an all-time low.
- The global finance sector was struggling to respond to the invasion, with share prices suffering heavy falls.
- Major buyers of Russian oil were struggling with bank guarantees, according to sources.
- Ukraine has shut its ports.
6:55am - There are concerns that fighting at Chernobyl could result in damage to a storage unit for dangerous radioactive wate.
Earlier, an advisor in the Ukraine's interior ministry said that if an artillery shell should hit the unit, "radioactive dust could cover the territory of Ukraine, Belarus and the countries of the European Union".
Russia has only just seized the zone, so it's unclear what type of damage has been sustained at the nuclear power plant.
6:50am - International relations expert Robert Patman told AM that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could spill over into neighbouring countries.
"I don't anticipate at the moment that NATO troops or US troops would actually be fighting against Russia in Ukraine. But this conflict has the potential to spill over, many eastern European countries have deep hostility towards Russia under Putin and strongly support the Ukrainian democratic Government."
Patman said sanctions could be very significant but will take time to have an effect.
"The sort of sanctions both the United States, the United Kingdom and other EU leaders are considering could be very significant, effectively cutting Russia off from the international financial system to some degree. But that will take time to work and Putin has got international reserves… the Russian economy with the rise in oil prices has been doing well recently."
He said there is a "tremendous imbalance" between the Ukrainian and Russian military.
"Although Russia is making early strides, that is to be expected given the military imbalance between the sides and if we look at other conflicts - the United States had no problem overwhelming Iraq… But that did not stop a full-blown insurgency from breaking out which eventually pushed The US out of that country.
"If we look at the Russian situation I have no doubt that they could overwhelm Ukraine in the not too distant future, that remains to be seen of course… but even if they do that does not mean that the Russians will achieve their political objective which is to essentially make Ukraine a benign buffer state. "
6:40am - It's nigh on impossible to say how many Ukrainians have been killed so far in the conflict. Ukraine earlier said that at least 40 soldiers and 10 civilians had been killed, but that's likely a significant undercount. World leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have warned of a "catastrophic" loss of life.
Russia's defence ministry says it has neutralised Ukraine's air defence system while also destroying 74 military bases.
6:35am - The West will deploy all resources available to ensure that the conflict in Ukraine does not spread to other countries in Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a televised address to the nation on Thursday.
"Putin should not underestimate the determination of NATO to defend all its members. This applies expressly to our NATO partners in the Baltic States, Poland and Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia. No ifs or buts," the chancellor said.
Scholz also said Russian President Vladimir Putin alone and not the Russian people bore the responsibility for the attack on Ukraine, but he "would not win."
"With the attack on Ukraine, President Putin wants to turn back time. But there is no going back to the 19th century, when great powers ruled over the heads of smaller states," Scholz said.
6:25am - In just the last few moments, the Ukrainian President's office has said the Chernobyl nuclear power plant has been captured by Russian forces and it's impossible to say whether it is safe.
6:15am - Vladimir Putin and the UK's Boris Johnson have both recently spoken about the events in Ukraine. Here are some of the key points from both leaders:
Putin said Russia was "forced" to invade the Ukraine as previous attempts to change the situation there have proven fruitless. Putin has consistently claimed Russia has been threatened by Ukraine, despite Ukraine saying it is the opposite that is true.
Facing the threat of massive sanctions, Putin says Russia intends to stay part of the international system and that countries should not push it out.
The British Prime Minister, Johnson, spoke to the House of Commons and said Putin will stand condemned in the eyes of history and the world. He said the Russian President will never cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands.
He went on to announce a range of sanctions against Russia, including totally excluding Russian banks from the UK financial system, imposing asset freezes on the banks, limit the depsoits Russian nationals can hold in UK bank accounts.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1496896547065323524
6:10am - Putin used two lengthy addresses this week to try and explain to his people why Russia needed to invade Ukraine. The Guardian, however, reports that it found no support for the war among those in Moscow.
Reuters is also reporting on anti-war protests that have broken out across 24 Russian cities. Police there have detained at least 167 people at the protests.
6:05am - Ukrainian politicians are obviously furious with the invasion of their country. Among them President Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Kuleba. Here's what they had to say earlier:
5:55am - Kia ora, good morning, and welcome to Newshub's live updates of the conflict occuring in eastern Europe after Russia on Thursday invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine.
The full invasion began at roughly 4pm on Thursday (NZT) and a lot has happened overnight. Here is Reuters' latest wrap of the situation:
Ukrainian forces battled Russian invaders around nearly all of the country's perimeter on Thursday after Moscow mounted a mass assault by land, sea and air in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two.
Missiles rained down on Ukrainian targets. Kyiv reported columns of troops pouring across the borders with Russia and Belarus stretching from the north and east, and landing on the coasts from the Black Sea in the southwest and Azov Sea in the southeast.
Fierce fighting was taking place in the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv in the northeast, Kherson and Odessa in the south, and at a military airport near the capital Kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said troops were trying to fend off Russians attempting to capture the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, just 90 km (60 miles) north of the capital. Regional officials said Ukrainian authorities had lost control of some territory in the Kherson region near Russian-occupied Crimea.
After President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address, explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the morning in Kyiv, a city of 3 million people.
The highway out of the city choked with traffic as residents fled.
The assault brought a calamitous end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war, their worst fears about Putin's ambitions realised.
READ MORE
- World reacts to 'full-scale invasion of Ukraine' by Russia
- New Zealand announces bans on Russia in response to Ukraine invasion
- Calling Russian ambassador to New Zealand over Ukraine crisis a significant step
- Vladimir Putin launches a war the West saw coming but was powerless to stop
"Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in the WW2 years," tweeted Zelenskiy.
"Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself & won't give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks."
Calling on Ukrainians to defend their country, he said arms would be given to anyone prepared to fight. He also urged Russians to take to the streets to protest against their government's actions.
U.S. President Joe Biden called the Russian action an "unprovoked and unjustified attack". EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would impose a new round of sanctions that would hit Russia's economy severely.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said: "These are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War."
RUSSIAN BOMBING
In his address, Putin said he had ordered "a special military operation" to protect people, including Russian citizens, subjected to "genocide" in Ukraine - an accusation the West calls baseless propaganda.
"And for this we will strive for the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine," Putin said. "All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine."
A resident of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city and close to the Russian border, said windows in apartment blocks were shaking from constant blasts.
Blasts could be heard in the southern port of Mariupol, near a frontline held by Russian-backed separatists. Civilians in Mariupol packed bags: "We are going into hiding," a woman said.
Ukrainian officials said Russian helicopters attacked Gostomel, a military airport near Kyiv, and Ukraine downed three of them. Ukrainian border officials said the Russians were trying to penetrate Kyiv region and Zhytomyr region on the Belarusian border. They were using Grad rockets.
Unconfirmed reports of casualties included Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian bombardment and border guards defending the frontier.
Authorities in the southern Odessa region said 18 people were killed in a missile attack. At least six people were killed in Brovary, a town near Kyiv, authorities there said. Ukraine reported five people killed when one plane was shot down.
Ukraine's military said it had destroyed four Russian tanks near Kharkiv, killed 50 troops near a town in Luhansk region, and downed six Russian warplanes in the east.
Russia denied reports its aircraft or armoured vehicles had been destroyed. Russian-backed separatists claimed to have downed two Ukrainian planes.
'RUSSIA ALONE IS RESPONSIBLE'
Even with a full-blown invasion under way, Putin's ultimate aim is obscure. He said he did not plan a military occupation, only to disarm Ukraine and purge it of nationalists.
The outright annexation of such a vast hostile country could be beyond Russia's military capabilities. But if the aim is just to replace Zelenskiy's government, it is hard to see Ukrainians accepting any new leadership Moscow might try to install.
"I think we must fight all those who invade our country so strongly," said one man stuck in traffic trying to leave Kyiv. "I would hang every single one of them from bridges."
Biden has ruled out sending U.S. troops to defend Ukraine, but Washington has reinforced NATO allies in the region with extra troops and planes. The West has pledged to impose severe sanctions.
"Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way," Biden said.
Russia is one of the world's biggest energy producers, and both it and Ukraine are among the top exporters of grain. War and sanctions will disrupt economies around the world already facing a supply crisis as they emerge from the pandemic.
Stocks and bond yields plunged; the dollar and gold soared. Brent oil surged past $100/barrel for the first time since 2014.
At least three major buyers of Russian oil said they had been denied letters of credit from Western banks, needed for shipments to go ahead.
'WE'RE AFRAID'
A democratic nation of 44 million people, Ukraine is Europe's biggest country by area after Russia itself. It voted for independence at the fall of the Soviet Union and aims to join NATO and the European Union, aspirations that infuriate Moscow.
Putin, who denied for months he was planning an invasion, has called Ukraine an artificial construct carved from Russia by its enemies, a characterisation Ukrainians see as an attempt to erase their more than 1,000-year-old history.
While many Ukrainians, particularly in the east, speak Russian as a native language, virtually all identify as a separate nationality.
In Kyiv, queues of people waited to withdraw money and buy supplies of food and water. Cars stretched for dozens of kilometres (miles) on the highway leading from the capital west towards Poland, where Western countries have prepared for the likelihood of hundreds of thousands of refugees.
"We're afraid of bombardments," said Oxana, trying to flee and stuck in her car with her three-year-old daughter on the backseat. "This is so scary."
Three hours after Putin gave his order, Russia's defence ministry said it had taken out military infrastructure at Ukrainian air bases and degraded its air defences.
Ukrainian media reported that military command centres in Kyiv and Kharkiv had been struck by missiles, while Russian troops had landed at Odessa and Mariupol.
Russia announced it was shutting all shipping in the Azov Sea. Russia controls the strait leading into the sea where Ukraine has ports including Mariupol. Ukraine appealed to Turkey to bar Russian ships from the straits connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
