Updated 2300IST

Ukraine loses control on Chernobyl site

A presidential adviser says Ukraine lost control of the Chernobyl nuclear site, where Ukranian forces had waged a fierce battle with Russian troops.

The Russian Defense Ministry affirmed that its ground forces have moved into Ukraine from Crimea, the first confirmation from Moscow that its ground forces have moved in.

Russia previously said only that it unleashed air and missile strikes on Ukrainian air bases, air defense batteries and other military facilities. The ministry said it has destroyed 83 Ukrainian military facilities.

Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians scrambled to flee the crisis. Ukraine's government pleaded for help as it said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a “full-scale war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order.

NATO envoys meet in emergency session 

Brussels - NATO envoys met in emergency session Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a large-scale attack on Ukraine as the 30-nation military organization prepares to bolster its defenses in allies neighboring both countries. Preparations are also underway for a NATO summit reported AP.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in statement that the attacks were a grave breach of international law, and a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security. The allies are meeting to address the consequences of Russia’s aggressive actions.”

Kyiv/Moscow - General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has posted a statement in FB, saying that Russian military has launched "artillery shelling of the territory and settlements of Ukraine along the state border".

Missile strikes were launched on Boryspil airport near Kyiv and several other airports. The Ukrainian air force is fighting off an air attack by Russia.

The statement denied reports about Russian paratroops in the southern port city of Odesa.



Reports have also emerged of troops in Belarus joining the Russian attack, meaning the offensive is now coming from Ukraine's north.

Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions, warning other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure and explosions are heard across the country. Zelenskyy said he had just talked to President Joe Biden and the U.S. was rallying international support for Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic.

Ukraine closes airspace

Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights on Thursday, citing a high risk to safety, while Europe's aviation regulator also warned against the hazards to flying in bordering areas of Russia and Belarus, because of military activities.

Severe sanctions on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure and explosions are heard across the country.

US President Joe Biden spoke to Volodymyr Zelensky, and briefed him on the steps he is taking "to rally international condemnation" and assured support and assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people

In a statement, Biden says he condemned the attack as "unprovoked and unjustified".

The US president says he will be meeting with G7 leaders on Thursday, and the US and allies "will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia".

Russia justifies attacks
Moscow said it does not intend to capture all of Ukraine, but would seek its “de-Nazification” and “demilitarization”

Putin the attacks in a televised address, saying that Russia had "no plans to occupy the Ukrainian territories", asserting that the operation launched to defend the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics from “Ukrainian aggression.”

The operation’s ultimate goal is “to protect the people who have been subjected for 8 years to genocide by the Kiev regime,” Putin added that Moscow would “embark on a demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine and handing over to justice those who committed numerous atrocities against civilians.”

The Russian president noted, however, that Moscow harbors no far-reaching plans to take over the whole territory of Ukraine.

Putin also accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees.

Cyberattacks on Ukraine
The websites of Ukraine’s defense, foreign and interior ministries were unreachable or painfully slow to load Thursday morning after a punishing wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks as Russia struck at its neighbor, explosions shaking the capital of Kyiv and other major cities.

In addition to DDoS attacks on Wednesday, cybersecurity researchers said unidentified attackers had infected hundreds of computers with destructive malware, some in neighboring Latvia and Lithuania.

UN Emergency meet, too late
The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York as an eleventh-hour effort to dissuade Russia from sending troops into Ukraine. But the message became doubtful even as it was being delivered.

While diplomats at U.N. headquarters were making pleas for Russia to back off — “Give peace a chance,” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres implored — Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television in his homeland to announce a military operation that he said was intended to protect civilians in Ukraine.

In this image from UNTV video, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya, holds up a phone as he speaks an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, at U.N. headquarters. (UNTV via AP)

“It’s too late, my dear colleagues, to speak about de-escalation,” Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the council. “I call on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war.”
-Reuters/AP/RT/BBC