Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after across the country and its foreign minister warning a "full-scale invasion" was underway.
This news has come after weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.
"I have made the decision of a military operation," Putin said in a surprise television announcement that triggered immediate condemnation from US President Joe Biden and sent global financial markets into chaos.
After President Putin's statement, explosions were heard in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and several other cities, according to AFP correspondents. Several videos have emerged on social media showing missiles flying towards Ukraine from Russia.
The most latest being this video from an Australian journalist who is covering the situation in Ukraine. Bryan Wilson took to Twitter to share his livestream in which a missile flies right over his head in Ukraine. Watch the video here:
In the now-viral video, Wilson can be heard saying that he cannot believe that Russia has declared war on Ukraine but he is suddenly caught off-guard when he sees the flying object and yells out, "That's a missile! That's a missile!"
The video has gone super viral on the microblogging website and has amassed more than a million views in a matter of a few minutes since being posted. To those who doubted the authenticity of the video, the fact that it was livestreamed cleared out any confusion. One user clarified, "I literally watched this live On Bryces stream. He live streamed for about 2 hours, this wasn't staged."
An hour ago, Wilson tweeted: "Hypersonic missiles are being used to attack Kramatorsk. I’m safe. I’m not doing media requests right now."
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the worst-case scenario was playing out.?
"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes," Kuleba tweeted.?
"This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now."
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