FOG BLOG WORLD NEWS LOG; BREAKING: RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE WEST VOWS SEVERE CONSEQUENCES FOR ACTIONS:

Russia invades Ukraine in Europe's 'darkest hours' since WWII...

Putin authorises military operation in east
Explosions heard in Kyiv and across Ukraine
Kyiv declares martial law, urges 'all possible' sanctions
Biden praying for victims of 'unprovoked' attack

KYIV/MARIUPOL, Ukraine, Feb 24 ) - Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday in a massed assault by land, sea and air, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two.

Missiles rained down. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia and Belarus and landing on the coast from the Black and Azov seas...Ukrainian troops fought Russian forces along practically the entire border, and fierce fighting was taking place in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa and at a military airport near Kyiv, an adviser to the presidential office said.

Explosions were heard before dawn and throughout the morning in the capital Kyiv, a city of 3 million people. Gunfire rattled, sirens blared, and the highway out of the city choked with traffic as residents fled...The assault brought a calamitous end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war, their worst fears about Russian President Vladimir Putin's ambitions realised.

"Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in the WW2 years," tweeted Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

"Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself & won't give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks."

Calling on Ukrainians to defend their country, he said arms would be given to anyone prepared to fight. He also urged Russians to take to the streets to protest against their government's actions.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the Russian action an "unprovoked and unjustified attack". EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc would impose a new round of sanctions that would hit Russia's economy severely.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said: "These are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War."