A harrowing photo of a man mourning above the body of what is thought to be his son has underlined the grim reality of the burgeoning war.
As the sun rose of Ukraine this morning, the initial toll of Russian missile strikes on heavily populated cities started to become clear.
Officials have said an attack on a military unit in Podilsk, outside Odessa, killed six people and wounded seven.
Photos believed to be from Donbas, which is in the separatist Donetsk region in the east of the country, a man was seen weeping above the body of a person thought to be his son, apparently killed in one of the strikes.
A harrowing photo shows the man on his knees in the rubble weeping with his hands to his face.
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Among the wreckage beneath him is a dead man, lying face down in the ruins of a building.
Footage of destruction from cities including Donbas, Kyiv, Chuhuiv and Uman suggest the early death tolls will rise significantly.
Unconfirmed and graphic footage from Uman in the centre of the country shows a woman lying dead on the street with blood trickling out from the sides of the blanket which covers her.
An apartment block in Chuhuiv in the north east has been completely gutted by a blast which knocked out all the windows and tore down its balconies.
According to analysis by Bellingcat, the apartment block was likely hit by mistake due to its proximity to a nearby airport.
The explosion is believed to have claimed the life of at least one person.
According to previous Amnesty International analysis of strikes on Gaza, the use of indiscriminate weapons towards civilian areas may constitute war crimes.
"You can see the utter devastation caused by this indiscriminate attack on a clearly civilian target," defence analyst Jimmy Sec wrote on Twitter of the apartment block strike.
"This is a clear and unambiguous war crime."
Later on a blast rang out in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk in the west of Ukraine, with reports suggesting that the airport there had been targeted by missile strikes.
Dmytro Kuleba, minister of Foreign Affairs for Ukraine, condemned the strikes early this morning.
"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine," he tweeted.
"Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. 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."
How Western forces will respond to the invasion remains to be seen, with further EU, UK and US to be announced later today.
"I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine and I have spoken to President Zelenskyy to discuss next steps," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
"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."
The PM chaired a meeting of Cobra this morning ahead of a House of Commons address later today.
