Explosions rattle Ukraine after Russia launches invasion
CBC
The latest:
Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, with Russian missiles raining down on Ukrainian cities and reports of troops pouring across the border.
Explosions could be heard before dawn in the capital of Kyiv. Gunfire rattled, sirens blared across the city and the highway out became choked with traffic as residents tried to flee.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's aim was to destroy his state.
"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
"This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now."
Ukraine reported columns of troops moving across its borders into the eastern Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, and landing by sea at the port cities of Odessa and Mariupol in the south.
European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said: "These are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War."
See some of the early images showing damage in Ukraine:
A resident of Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, the closest big city to the Russian border, said windows in apartment blocks were shaking from constant blasts.
Outside Mariupol, close to the front line held by Russian-backed separatists, smoke billowed from a fire in a forest targeted by Russian bombing.
A Ukrainian armoured column headed along the road, with soldiers seated atop turrets smiling and flashing victory signs to passing cars which honked their horns in support.
In the nearby towns of Mangush and Berdyansk, people queued for cash and gasoline. Civilians from Mariupol were seen packing bags.
"We are going into hiding," said a middle-aged woman in a grey sweater.