Good morning. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has continued with Russian forces seizing control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Russia’s defence ministry claiming to have “neutralised” Ukraine’s airbases and air defences, destroying 74 military ground facilities, including 11 airfields.
Russian forces have attacked Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin as world leaders warned that it could spark the biggest conflict in Europe since the second world war. Within minutes of Putin’s short televised address, at about 5am Ukrainian time, explosions were heard near major Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv. Ukraine’s interior ministry reported that the country was under attack from cruise and ballistic missiles, with Russia appearing to target infrastructure near major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Dnipro. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians were fleeing or preparing to flee the country with videos and photos on social media showing lines of cars moving out of cities and heading west. Ukraine’s president has said Kyiv would issue weapons to anyone who wanted to use them to defend the country’s sovereignty.
