Initial report
By Chris Pleasance and Harriet Alexander, Nick Craven In Kiev, Will Stewart In Moscow and Rachel Bunyan
“Russia has today launched all-out war on Ukraine, with attacks coming from the north, south and east simultaneously as bombs, cruise missiles and rockets rained down on targets across the country. 'Hundreds' of Ukrainian troops were killed in early fighting, Kiev said, with five Russian jets and a helicopter shot down in the country's east - shortly before Moscow boasted of taking out anti-air defences, giving them control of the skies. Missiles slammed into airfields, ammo dumps, military bases and command posts from east to west with extraordinary footage showing Ivano-Frankivsk airport being struck (main). Tanks and troops rolled across the border from Belarus as dictator Alexander Lukashenko threw his forces into the fight. Moscow-backed rebels also staged and assault on the Donbass in the country's east, with ground units also breaking out from Crimea in the south (top right). It came after Vladimir Putin personally gave the order to attack, in what amounts to the most-concerted effort to up-end world order since the end of the Cold War, and which could trigger the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking from his home in the early hours, vowed the Ukraine is 'not afraid' and 'will defeat everyone' - though few expect Ukraine's outnumbered and outgunned forces to emerge victorious. Meanwhile world leaders lined up to condemn the attack, with a barrage of sanctions against Russia expected to follow.”