Missiles rained down on Ukrainian targets and authorities reported columns of troops pouring across Ukraine’s borders from Russia and Belarus to the north and east, and landing on the southern coasts from the Black Sea and Azov Sea. The assault brought a calamitous end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war.
After a day of fighting, Putin said he had no choice but to act, while Western leaders condemned him. As night fell, the picture of what was happening on the ground was sketchy. Across Ukraine, at least 68 people were killed, including both soldiers and civilians, according to an AFP tally from Ukrainian official sources.
The highway heading west out of Kyiv was choked with traffic as residents fled. In Kyiv, queues of people waited to withdraw money and buy food and water. Cars stretched for dozens of kilometres on the highway leading west towards Poland.
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