Russian military attacks on Ukraine have killed at least 40 people, an adviser to the Ukrainian president said on Thursday, per AP. Air raid sirens rang out in the capital Kyiv, as Russian missile strikes were reported in multiple cities across Ukraine — moments after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in the country that was part of the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Facebook that Russia’s military had unleashed missile attacks on Ukrainian military command facilities, airbases, and military depots in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, according to a translation by AP.
Ukraine’s border guard agency reported troops were returning fire against Russian troops that had launched an “artillery barrage” in a Belarus-backed assault, per an AP translation. Russia had extended its military drills in Belarus in recent days.
Ukraine announced the closure of its airspace to civilian flights, and Europe’s aviation regulator warned against flying near the Ukraine-Belarus border, Reuters notes. Biden promised Ukraine President Zelensky in a phone call additional U.S. support and that “our allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia,” according to a White House readout.
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” Biden said. “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” he added. “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
