KYIV, UKRAINE (AP) – Russian troops have launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions.
He warned other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to “consequences you have never seen.”
Ukraine’s leadership said at least 40 people have been killed so far in what it called a “full-scale war” targeting the country from the east, north and south.
Ukrainian border guards released footage of what they said were Russian tanks moving in. Big explosions were heard in Ukrainian cities Thursday. The Russian military claimed to have wiped out Ukraine’s entire air defenses in a matter of hours. Ukrainians fled some cities.
World leaders decried the start of a long-anticipated invasion with far-reaching consequences.
By Vladimir Isachenkov, Dasha Litvinova, Yuras Karmanau and Jim Heintz, Associated Press