Russia has invaded Ukraine with missile striking cities including capital Kyiv and Odessa leading to dozens of deaths.
Last night Vladimir Putin announced he has launched a special military operation in the separatist east of Ukraine.
Ukrainian citizens woke up to devastation and death this morning following the full scale invasion.
Cities across the country were hit with shells overnight, with harrowing pictures showing bodies in the street and residential buildings destroyed.
This morning attack helicopters flew over the capital, raining missiles down on the historic city.
An adviser in Ukraine's presidential office says that there have been civilian casualties and that more than 40 soldiers have been killed.
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Officials said that five Ukrainians had been killed when a military plane was brought down in Ukraine.
The attack led to strong condemnation from Western forces, which vowed to unleash crippling sanctions on Russia.
Boris Johnson condemned Russia for unleashing a "tidal wave of violence" against Ukraine without provocation or credible excuse.
Speaking in a rare national address, Mr Johnson warned the parents of Russian soldiers that their children would "lose their lives" and Moscow would achieve "pariah status".
Earlier on this morning Ukraine foreign minister said that Russia has launched a "full-scale" attack and that the country will "defend itself and win".
Ukraine is facing invasions on several fronts with Belarus having provided support for Russia from 5am, while there have also been attacks from annexed Crimea, according to Ukraine's border guard service.
It added that assaults against border guard units and check points were under way using artillery, other military hardware and small arms in the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr.
Missile strikes have been carried out on "infrastructure and on boarder guards" said the Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy who has declared martial law with air raid sirens heard ringing out on Thursday morning.
He stated that he has already called on the world to use all possible sanctions against Putin.
At around 9.30am President Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians with military experience to sign up to defence the country, while calling on civilians to give blood.
The Russian Defence Ministry said the Russian strikes have "suppressed air defence means of the Ukrainian military," adding that the infrastructure of Ukraine's military bases has been "incapacitated".
It denied claims that Russian warplanes had shot down over Ukraine and four Russian tanks destroyed on a road near the eastern city of Kharkiv, killing 50 troops.
And Russian-backed separatists are also claiming to have taken control of two in the Luhansk region, reported RIA.
At the same time the Ukraine government has said that shelling has caused one dead and one wounded in Brovary in the Kyiv region.
That death toll is almost certain to rise significantly as the day goes on.
Missile attacks have hit major cities and troops have landed on the south coast of Ukraine, said officials, while the country has been hit by continual cyber attacks that downed government websites yesterday.
Footage shows people leaving Kyiv in droves with chaotic scenes on roads packed full of cars as people flee.
Residents in the city are being told to "not panic" and remain at home unless they have essential jobs, said the government.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russian President Vladimir Putin has "chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction" with his attack on Ukraine and that the UK and its allies would respond "decisively".
The PM said on Twitter: "I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine and I have spoken to President Zelenskyy to discuss next steps.
"President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
"The UK and our allies will respond decisively."
Shortly before 10am the PM called for an emergency Nato meeting ahead of his address to the nation later today.
"This is a catastrophe for our continent," he tweeted.
"I will make an address to the nation this morning on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I will also speak to fellow G7 leaders and I am calling for an urgent meeting of all NATO leaders as soon as possible."
US President Joe Biden has called Russia's decision to commence a military operation in eastern Ukraine an "unprovoked and unjustified attack".
He added the Putin had "chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering".
Heartbreaking images of the early toll and loss are already emerging from the country showing the death and injury already inflicted.
Photos circulating online show one woman's body lying in the street surrounded by blood and a man weeping above a corpse in rubble.
Another shows a woman's bloody injuries in the same city.
Ukrainian military command centres in the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv have been attacked by missile strikes, the Ukrainska Pravda news website cited a Ukrainian interior ministry official as saying on Thursday.
Regular blasts have been heard from the Ukraine capital Kyiv and the sound of gunfire came from near to the main airport of Boryspil in Kyiv.
Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk have launched large-scale strikes against Ukrainian forces along the line of contact, Russia's Interfax news agency cited a separatist spokesman as saying.
Amid the global condemnation, the EU's chief executive said she would present "massive" sanctions to the bloc for approval on Thursday February 24.
She said: "(Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin is responsible for bringing war back to Europe."
She promised that new EU sanctions would block Russia's access to "key technologies and markets" and the Union would also freeze Russian assets in Europe and halt Moscow's access to European financial markets.
"We will weaken Russia's economic base and its capacity to modernise... These sanctions are designed to take a heavy toll on the Kremlin's interests and on their ability to finance the war."
There are reports that Russian forces have destroyed or rendered unusable the Ukrainian navy, that included an amphibious landing from a tanker and helicopter aircraft took place near Odessa.
Russia is targeting Ukraine's military infrastructure, air defence, and air forces with high-precision weapons and is not attacking Ukrainian cities, Russia's RIA news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying.
Passengers and staff are being evacuated from the airport, said the Ukraine government.
Whizz Air and Ryanair have stopped flights into and out of the country as its airspace is closed.
Have you been caught up in the conflict? Email webnews@mirror.co.uk
Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapons strikes, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet.
"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes," Kuleba said.
"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."
The Mirror's Andy Lines in Kyiv said: "I watched a huge red and orange glow to the north of the city as a Russian missile hit its target.
"The first muffled bangs started shortly after 5am local time. I heard seven or eight but nothing appeared to be aimed at the city centre."
A the same same time video footage on social media taken in Mariupol, around 30 miles from the Russian border, shows what seems to be plumes of smoke rising amid explosions.
There have been also been sounds of explosions in other cities including Kharkiv and Odessa.
"For more than 70 years, we have avoided large-scale war in Europe. With his illegal invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has tragically brought decades of general peace to an end," said US senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
"Now the US and our NATO allies must stand united and resolute against Putin's efforts to renew the Russian empire at the expense of the Ukrainian people."
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she condemns the "appalling, unprovoked attack" on Ukraine.
"I strongly condemn the appalling, unprovoked attack President Putin has launched on the people of Ukraine," she tweeted.
"We stand with Ukraine and we will work with our international partners to respond to this terrible act of (aggression)."
Putin has told the Ukraine army to lay down their arms in the area.
It comes as Vladimir Putin said that Russia will carry out a special military operation in the Donbass and he has called on all Ukrainian soldiers to "immediately" lay down their weapons and go home, according to the Tass new agency.
He claims that Russia is acting out of self-defence and told the Ukrainian military that their "fathers and grandfathers" didn't fight so they could help "neo-nazis".
In a televised address early on Thursday morning, Putin said the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine.
He added that Russia does not have a goal to occupy Ukraine, but said the responsibility for bloodshed lies with the Ukrainian ''regime''.
Putin said Russia has been left with no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats emanating from modern Ukraine.
Putin also made an appeal to the Ukrainian military: "I urge you to immediately lay down your weapons and go home. All servicemen of the Ukrainian army who fulfil this demand will be able to freely leave the combat zone and return to their families."
The scope of the Russian military operation in Ukraine was not immediately clear.
A Reuters reporter in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, heard explosions which sounded like artillery shelling in the distance soon after Putin had finished speaking.
Putin said Russia would respond instantly if any external force tried to interfere and that Moscow would try to de-militarise and 'de-Nazify' Ukraine.
"Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine," said Putin.
Earlier US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believes Russia will invade Ukraine within hours after separatists on Wednesday asked for Russian help to repel "aggression" and as explosions rocked the breakaway eastern city of Donetsk.
Putin has said this week that he wants to take the important Azov sea port of Mariupol which deals with around half of Ukraine's steel and mineral exports, it is reported.
Blinken told NBC News he expected Russian forces would attack Ukraine overnight although he still held out hope for diplomacy to pull Europe back from the brink of war.
"Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine," Blinken said in an interview, adding he could not be precise about time or place.
A pro-Ukraine rally was held in Mariupol on Tuesday night where people gathered to protest in the face of a Russian invasion, waving Ukraine flags.
Separatists have requested help from Russia in the east of Ukraine and hours after the plea on Wednesday, at least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on Thursday morning.
Four military trucks were seen heading to the scene, but the cause of the explosions was not known and it is feared that it was being used as "false flag" by separatists to give Russia an excuse to invade.
Convoys of military equipment including nine tanks were seen moving towards Donetsk on Wednesday from the direction of the Russian border.
Shelling has intensified in the east, where Putin has recognised two separatist regions as independent and ordered the deployment of what he called peacekeepers, a move the West calls the start of an invasion.
