Previously, advisor to Ukrainian interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko also wrote on Facebook early on the morning of February 24 that "Russia's attack has begun with missile attacks on Kiev".
Anton Gerashchenko said that control centers such as airports and military commandos were affected by shelling in Kiev and Kharkiv, and there was artillery fire along the border.
The information was released shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a special military campaign in Donbass, Eastern Ukraine. Mr. Putin also called for "de orderly" Ukraine in a television speech, right after announcing the launch of the campaign.
"The situations require us to take decisive and immediate action," Ria Novosti news agency quoted President Putin as saying. "The People's Republics countries in Donbass have asked Russia for help. Regarding this issue, following Article 51, Part 7 of the United Nations Charter, sanctions from the Russian Federation Council and according to the friendship and mutual assistance treaties with the Donetsk People's Republic DPR and the Lugansk People's Republic LPR approved by the National Assembly, I decided to conduct a special military campaign" - President Putin said.
The speech was given early in the morning in Russia, taking place at the same time as the United Nations Security Council is holding an urgent meeting on Russia-Ukraine tensions. At the meeting, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya spoke out in defense of this military campaign.
The root cause of todays crisis around Ukraine is the actions of Ukraine itself, which has not fulfilled its obligations under the Minsk agreement for many years, Nebenzya said. He said the Russian operation was aimed at protecting residents in breakaway areas in eastern Ukraine who have struggled with Ukrainian shelling for eight years.
The ambassador said that "Ukrainian province's province's province's province'sprovocation against Donbass people has not only not stopped but has also increased," which has prompted leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to demand Russian assistance.
RT reported that shortly after Mr. Putin announced the launch of the campaign, explosions were reported across Ukraine, including in the capitals of Kiev and Kharkiv, about 400 km east of Kiev. Officials said the explosions were heard in the cities of Odessa - a major seaport in the Black Sea - and Mariupol - a city on the northern coast of the Azov Sea.
Reuters journalist Idress Ali quoted a witness as saying that "a series of explosions" could be heard in Belgorod, Russia, while CNN international reporter Frederik Pleitgen claimed to have heard "sounds similar to the sound of firecrackers and missiles" from the same area. He later added that he had heard rocket crashes in the city.
