Timeline: Putin attacks Ukraine – how it happened
Explosions have been heard across Ukraine, with Kyiv saying military sites targeted by Russia in the eastern Donbas region.
Russian forces have launched an assault on Ukraine after months of a military build-up along its border.
Explosions were heard early on Wednesday near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy saying Russia had conducted strikes on military infrastructure and on border guards in the Donbas region.
The attack, which has been met with international condemnation, comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognised two breakaway regions held in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian rebels as independent states and ordered troops into the territories.
Here is a timeline of the reported events so far:
03:00 GMT – Putin announces invasion
Putin announces an attack in Donbas and calls on Ukraine’s military to lay down its arms.
The Russian leader warns other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen”.
03:35 GMT – International condemnation
US President Joe Biden denounces Moscow’s “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine, pledging the world will “hold Russia accountable”. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg echoes Biden’s statement, while United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, in an impassionate plea, says, “President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia.” Biden, in a phone call to Zelenskyy, also pledges support to Ukraine and its people.
04:15 GMT – Explosions heard near Kyiv
Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons reports at least seven “loud explosions” were heard in Ukraine’s capital, close to Boryspil international airport.
04:30 GMT – Ukraine says Russia has launched ‘full-scale invasion’
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says Russia has launched a “full-scale invasion” of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapons strikes.
05:00 GMT – Russia says targeting ‘junta’ in Kyiv
Russia’s ambassador to the UN tells an emergency Security Council meeting that Moscow’s military operation against Ukraine was targeting “the junta” in power in Kyiv.
“I wanted to say in conclusion that we aren’t being aggressive against the Ukrainian people but against the junta that is in power in Kiyv,” says Vassily Nebenzia.
05:25 GMT – Russia says targeting Ukraine military facilities with ‘precision’ weapons
“Military infrastructure, air defence facilities, military airfields, and aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being disabled with high-precision weapons,” the defence ministry says in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
05:45 GMT – Ukraine says eastern units under intensive shelling
Ukraine’s defence minister says Ukrainian units, military control centres and airfields in the country’s east are under intensive Russian shelling.
06:00 GMT – Ukraine says troops attacked from Belarus
Ukraine border guard service says the Russian military attacking Ukraine from Belarus as well as Russia itself.
06:05 GMT – Zelenskyy declares martial law
Zelenskyy, in a brief national address, says “Russia conducted strikes on our military infrastructure and our border guards” and introduces martial law across Ukraine.
06:20 GMT – Russia says it has degraded Ukraine’s air defence
Russia’s defence ministry says it has attacked military infrastructure at Ukrainian airbases and degraded Ukraine’s air defences, according to reports by Russian news agencies. The claims could not be independently verified.
The ministry also denies reports that one of its aircraft had been shot down over Ukraine.
07:00 GMT – Ukraine claims to have shot down Russian planes
The Ukrainian military says it has shot down five Russian planes and one helicopter in the Luhansk area. The claim could not be independently verified.
