KYIV, Ukraine (AP) \u2014 Russia launched a\u00a0wide-ranging attack on Ukraine\u00a0on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine\u2019s government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a \u201cfull-scale war\u201d that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In unleashing Moscow\u2019s most aggressive action since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, President Vladimir Putin deflected\u00a0global condemnation and cascading new sanctions\u00a0\u2014 and chillingly referred to his country\u2019s nuclear arsenal. He threatened any foreign country attempting to interfere with \u201cconsequences you have never seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world\u2019s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.\u00a0Large explosions were heard in the capital there and in other cities, and people massed in train stations and took to roads, as the government said the former Soviet republic was seeing\u00a0a long-anticipated invasion\u00a0from the east, north and south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The chief of the NATO alliance said the \u201cbrutal act of war\u201d shattered peace in Europe, joining a chorus of world leaders who decried the attack, which could cause massive casualties, topple Ukraine\u2019s democratically elected government and upend the post-Cold War security order. The conflict was already shaking global financial markets: Stocks plunged and oil prices soared amid concerns that heating bills and food prices would skyrocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Condemnation rained down not only from the U.S. and Europe, but from South Korea, Australia and beyond \u2014 and many governments readied new sanctions. Even friendly leaders like Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orban sought to distance themselves from Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cut diplomatic ties with Moscow and declared martial law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs of today, our countries are on different sides of world history,\u201d Zelenskyy tweeted. \u201cRussia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself and won\u2019t give up its freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said: \u201cA full-scale war in Europe has begun. … Russia is not only attacking Ukraine, but the rules of normal life in the modern world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While some nervous Europeans speculated about a possible new world war, the U.S. and its NATO partners have so far\u00a0shown no indication they would join in a war against Russia. They instead mobilized troops and equipment around Ukraine\u2019s western flank \u2014 as Ukraine pleaded for defense assistance and help protecting its airspace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Washington, President Joe Biden convened a meeting of the National Security Council on Thursday to discuss Ukraine as the U.S. prepares new sanctions. Biden administration officials have signaled that two of the measures they were considering most strongly include hitting Russia\u2019s biggest banks and slapping on new export controls meant to starve Russia\u2019s industries and military of U.S. semiconductors and other high-tech components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attacks came first from the air. Later Ukrainian authorities described ground invasions in multiple regions, and border guards released footage showing a line of Russian military vehicles crossing into Ukraine\u2019s government-held territory. European authorities declared the country\u2019s airspace an active conflict zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a worrying development, Zelenskyy said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl plant, and a Ukrainian official said Russian shelling hit a radioactive waste repository and an increase in radiation levels was reported. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other governments did not immediately corroborate or confirm the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plant was the site of the world\u2019s worst nuclear accident when a nuclear reactor exploded in April 1986, spewing radioactive waste across Europe. The plant lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of the capital of Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After weeks of denying plans to invade, Putin launched the operation on a country the size of Texas that has increasingly tilted toward the democratic West and away from Moscow\u2019s sway. The autocratic leader made clear earlier this week that he sees no reason for Ukraine to exist, raising fears of possible broader conflict in the vast space that the Soviet Union once ruled. Putin denied plans to occupy Ukraine, but his ultimate goals remain hazy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainians who had long braced for the prospect of an assault were urged to shelter in place and not to panic despite the dire warnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are facing a war and horror. What could be worse?\u201d 64-year-old Liudmila Gireyeva said in Kyiv. She planned to flee the city and try to eventually get to Poland to join her daughter. Putin \u201cwill be damned by history, and Ukrainians are damning him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With social media amplifying a torrent of military claims and counter-claims, it was difficult to determine exactly what was happening on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said his troops were fighting Russian forces just 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the capital \u2014 in Hostomel, which is home to the Antonov aircraft maker and has a runway that is long enough to handle even the biggest cargo planes. Russian officials said separatist forces backed by Russia in the east have taken a new strip of territory from Ukrainian forces, but have not acknowledged ground troops elsewhere in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associated Press reporters saw or confirmed explosions in the capital, in Mariupol on the Azov Sea, Kharkiv in the east and beyond. AP confirmed video showing Russian military vehicles crossing into Ukrainian-held territory in the north from Belarus and from Russian-annexed Crimea in the south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian and Ukrainian authorities made competing claims about damage they had inflicted. Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed scores of Ukrainian air bases, military facilities and drones, and confirmed the loss of a Su-25 attack jet, blaming it on \u201cpilot error.\u201d It said it was not targeting cities, but using precision weapons and claimed that \u201cthere is no threat to civilian population.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukraine\u2019s armed forces They reported at least 40 soldiers dead, and said a military plane carrying 14 people crashed south of Kyiv.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poland\u2019s military increased its readiness level, and\u00a0Lithuania\u00a0and Moldova moved toward doing the same. Border crossings increased from Ukraine to Poland, which has prepared centers for refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin\u00a0justified his actions in an overnight televised address, asserting that the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine \u2014 a false claim the U.S. had predicted he would make as a pretext for an invasion. He accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia\u2019s demands to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and for security guarantees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0consequences of the conflict\u00a0and resulting sanctions on Russia reverberated throughout the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World stock markets plunged and oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic surged toward or above $100 per barrel, on unease about possible disruption of Russian supplies. The ruble sank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anticipating international condemnation and countermeasures, Putin issued a stark warning to other countries not to meddle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a reminder of Russia\u2019s nuclear power, he warned that \u201cno one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to the destruction and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among Putin\u2019s pledges was to \u201cdenazify\u201d Ukraine. World War II looms large in Russia, after the Soviet Union suffered more deaths than any country while fighting Adolf Hitler\u2019s forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kremlin propaganda paints members of Ukrainian right-wing groups as neo-Nazis, exploiting their admiration for WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist leaders who sided with the Nazis. Ukraine is now led by a Jewish president who lost relatives in the Holocaust and angrily dismissed the Russian claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putin\u2019s announcement came just hours after the Ukrainian president rejected Moscow\u2019s claims that his country poses a threat to Russia and made a passionate, last-minute plea for peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyy said he asked to arrange a call with Putin late Wednesday, but the Kremlin did not respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack began even as the U.N. Security Council was meeting to hold off an invasion. Members still unaware of Putin\u2019s announcement of the operation\u00a0appealed to him to stand down. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the emergency meeting, telling Putin: \u201cGive peace a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But hours later, NATO\u2019s Jens Stoltenberg indicated it was too late: \u201cPeace on our continent has been shattered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
___<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Isachenkov and Litvinova reported from Moscow. Angela Charlton in Paris; Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin; Raf Casert and Lorne Cook in Brussels; Robert Burns, Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, Eric Tucker, Ellen Knickmeyer, Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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