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Russia’s defence ministry says it has attacked military infrastructure at Ukrainian air bases and degraded Ukraine’s air defences, according to reports by Russian news agencies.
The ministry denied reports that one of its aircraft had been shot down over Ukraine. Ukraine’s military said earlier that five Russian planes and one helicopter had been downed in the country’s eastern Luhansk region.
Al Jazeera Andrew Simmons, reporting from Kyiv, says air raid sirens have been blaring throughout the city.
“It would appear that military installations have been the target [of the attack] – there have been missiles attacks and the number of casualties and level of damage is unclear at the moment,” Simmons said.
“But the whole sky was awash with red and orange when these missiles struck – some of which were apparently cruise missiles. And the main international airport did come under attack – it is not clear what the damage is there, but all air space is closed,” he added.
Ukraine’s president has made a brief national address to declare martial law throughout the country.
“Dear Ukrainian citizens, this morning President Putin announced a special military operation in Donbas. Russia conducted strikes on our military infrastructure and our border guards. There were blasts heard in many cities of Ukraine. We’re introducing martial law on the whole territory of our country,” Zelenskyy said in a video address.
“A minute ago I had a conversation with President Biden. The US have already started uniting international support. Today each of you should keep calm. Stay at home if you can. We are working. The army is working. The whole sector of defense and security is working,” he added.
“No panic. We are strong. We are ready for everything. We will win over everybody because we are Ukraine.”
Russian troops attacked Ukraine from Belarus as well as Russia itself, with Belarusian support, at about 5 am local time (07:00 GMT), Ukraine’s border guard service says
The agency said an attack had also been launched from Crimea, which Russia annexed from Crimea in 2014.
According to Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, who reported from Moscow, the Russian military is being “very tight-lipped on what is happening on the ground with Ukraine”.
“We are hearing reports of the Russian military going in from various sides of Ukraine – from the east, from the west and now allegedly from the north in Belarus,” Jabbari said.
“It is clear now that this is not just a small military operation in the eastern region of Donbas as the president [Putin] had said,” she added.
“Many residents in Moscow yesterday were commemorating their version of Remembrance day. They said they could not possibly fathom the idea of going to war with Ukraine. [They said] Ukraine is their neighbor, is part of their family, they are brother and sisters and there is really no justification for launching a full-scale attack on Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s defence minister has said that Ukrainian units, military control centres and airfields in the country’s east are under intensive Russian shelling.
“We are already seeing a weak ruble at the early opening this morning that will have consequences in terms of inflation and lifestyle,” Weafer said, adding that sanctions could impact people’s ability to use bank cards, to withdraw money form ATM and to travel.
“All of these are potential consequences and if that happens there will be a domestic public reaction. Not immediately, but it will start to change dynamics in Russia,” he said.