Battles continue in all regions of Ukraine after Russia launched a comprehensive military operation against its neighbor at dawn today, Thursday, at a time when Kiev announced the use of the Russian army with ballistic missiles, amid news of NATO mobilizing its military forces in Eastern European countries.
On Thursday evening, units of the Russian army entered Ukraine through the Crimea.
In a statement, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that his country's forces destroyed 83 infrastructure facilities belonging to the Ukrainian army.
Bloomberg quoted a Western source on Thursday evening as saying that Russian forces are advancing towards Kiev through the course of the Dnieper River, explaining that the capital may fall into the hands of the Russians within hours after the Ukrainian air defenses were destroyed.
On Thursday evening, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health announced that 57 people had been killed and 169 wounded due to the Russian invasion.
American soldiers
A senior US defense official said the United States would send 7,000 troops to Germany to help reassure NATO allies, who are part of a larger unit that was already put on alert earlier this year.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the troops would leave for Germany in the coming days.
The Pentagon said the additional troops moving to Germany could be deployed elsewhere in Europe.
The Pentagon said that Russia launched more than 160 ballistic and cruise missiles at sites in Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian media, the mayor of Kharkiv urged residents to spend the night in the subway and in shelters.
The United Nations spoke of the presence of 100,000 displaced people inside Ukraine, and confirmed that thousands had left it abroad.
Kharkiv and Sumy
The adviser to the Ukrainian President's office stated that battles were taking place only a few kilometers from the vicinity of the city of Kharkiv (eastern Ukraine), and the army announced that it had destroyed 4 Russian tanks in the Kharkiv axis.
Pictures showed tanks of the Ukrainian army on the way to Kharkiv, as part of reinforcements sent to that region.
Activists broadcast pictures showing a multi-storey building, after it was subjected to a Russian bombardment near the city of Kharkiv, without mentioning information about casualties.
The Ukrainian army issued an appeal to the citizens of the strategic city of Sumy (in the east of the country) to confront the Russian attack.
The Ukrainian border guards confirmed that their forces are fighting against the Russian forces near the city, noting that confrontations are taking place with Russian forces trying to control Gostomel Airport in the Kiev region.
Chernobyl
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the Russian forces are trying to control the northern city of Chernobyl, considering that this is a declaration of war on the entire European continent.
Ukrainian media also confirmed Russia's destruction of a nuclear waste storage facility in the Chernobyl region.
Reuters quoted a presidential adviser as saying that Russian forces had taken control of the Chernobyl energy facility.
And Mikhailo Podolyak, adviser to the President's office, revealed that the Russian forces' control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant could lead to a major environmental disaster.
"It is impossible to say that the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is safe after a completely useless attack by the Russians," he added.
"This is one of the most serious threats in Europe today," he added.
The Russian military operation caused widespread destruction in a number of regions of Ukraine (European)
all-out war
The Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that it had achieved all its targets set for Thursday, and stated that its forces had destroyed 83 targets on the ground in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed that the Russian army uses ballistic missiles.
Bloomberg quoted a Western source as saying that Putin intends to control all of Ukraine, even though the theater of military operations is concentrated in the east of the country.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its ongoing military operation has removed 74 Ukrainian land military installations from service.
Russian media published pictures that it said were of a bombing targeting a military unit in the city of "Brovary", east of the Ukrainian capital.
The pictures showed the extent of the destruction inflicted on the unit, and plumes of smoke rose from it, hours after the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Local authorities said at least 6 people were killed in Brovary.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that its forces had destroyed 3 command centers for Ukrainian military operations, while the separatists in Luhansk announced the destruction of 21 Ukrainian military vehicles and two military divisions in battles west of Lugansk.
The Kremlin said today that the military operation against Ukraine will continue based on its "results" and "feasibility", and estimated that the Russians would support a similar attack.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to reporters that Moscow aims to impose a "neutral status" in Ukraine, disarm it and eliminate the "Nazis" he said were present in this country.
heavy bombardment
And local media reported that the Ukrainian air base of Melitopol was subjected to violent Russian bombing.
Pictures broadcast on social media also showed missile strikes targeting Ivano-Frankivsk airport in western Ukraine.
A huge explosion was heard at the airport, and one of its halls caught fire, and flames rose from them.
Most of the shops and bank branches in the Ukrainian capital have closed their doors, after witnessing a heavy turnout of citizens.
The streets of the city were crowded with cars, as some people were trying to leave the city.
The Verkhovna Rada had approved a state of emergency in the country starting from midnight yesterday, and the country's president called on citizens to stay in their homes and not leave them.
Pictures showed plumes of smoke rising in the capital, Kiev, and "Reuters" agency said that smoke rose from the Defense Ministry's intelligence building.
downed two helicopters
Today, the Ukrainian armed forces announced that they had shot down two Russian helicopters in the Gostomel region, near the capital.
The State Emergency Service said, in a statement, that a Ukrainian military plane crashed in the Zhukhivtsi region near Kiev, killing 5 people.
And Ukraine had announced - earlier - the killing of 50 Russian fighters, the downing of 7 planes, and the destruction of 4 tanks.
Today, the Ukrainian forces captured two Russian soldiers and published their photos, according to information obtained by Anadolu Agency from the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara.
The information indicated that the Ukrainian forces captured two soldiers after disarming them in the vicinity of Kiev.
accusations against Belarus
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry confirmed the launch of 4 ballistic missiles from Belarus towards southwestern Ukraine.
And the Ukrainian Border Guard Service announced - in a statement today - that Russian forces entered the Kiev region from Belarus, to carry out an attack with Grad missiles on military targets.
A journalist - in the French Press Agency - spoke of unidentified helicopters flying in groups at low altitudes in the suburb of the Ukrainian capital.
France condemned Russia's use of the territory of neighboring Belarus to carry out military operations against Ukraine, and announced that it would strengthen its support for Kiev, including military support.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said - in a statement - that Paris "condemns the use of the territory of Belarus with the consent of (Alexander) Lukashenko's regime to launch this aggression against a sovereign state.
Russian ground forces entered Ukraine from Russia and Belarus this morning, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
Lithuania's defense minister said Belarus was a partner in the aggression and had allowed Russian planes to use its airspace against Ukraine.
The European Union had called on Belarus to "not participate" in the Russian attack on Ukraine.
NATO reinforcements
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that the alliance had no plans to send troops to Ukraine after Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour.
"We do not have NATO forces in Ukraine, and we have no plans to send NATO forces there," Stoltenberg said during a press conference after an emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors.
NATO had announced that it would send defensive land, air and naval forces to Eastern Europe, and said that it had raised the level of preparedness for its forces, to respond to the state of emergency in Eastern Europe.
The alliance revealed that additional measures are being taken to strengthen defense in all NATO countries, stressing that its measures will remain preventive, balanced and non-escalatory.
He described Russia's actions as a threat to European security, which would have strategic consequences.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said today that NATO will deploy capabilities and forces on its soil, and that it has put more than 100 warplanes on high alert.
The leaders of NATO countries will hold an online summit tomorrow.
The alliance has also activated its defense plans to give military commanders permission to move forces, including those on high alert.
"We must respond with renewed resolve and stronger unity ... What we are doing is a defensive measure," Stoltenberg told a news conference, after presiding over an emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors.
The war broke out with the announcement of Russian President Vladimir Putin - at dawn today - the military operation in Ukraine.
Putin said he did not want to occupy Ukraine, but rather to disarm it.
The Russian president asked the Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms, threatening everyone who said he was threatening his country with an immediate response.
On the other hand, in a speech addressed to the people, the Ukrainian president said that his country is under Russian attack from all sides.
Zelensky called on all citizens who can bear arms to join the fight.