Russia launched an attack by air, land and sea from several directions against neighboring Ukraine Thursday. Explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the country including the capital city of Kyiv. The mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said his city is effectively surrounded. Ukraine’s military chief said Ukrainian troops were fighting the Russian army near the Hostomel airbase 7 kilometers northwest of Kyiv. In the south, he said fighting was going on near Henichesk, Skadovsk and Chaplynka. Another Ukrainian official said Russian troops captured the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The plant was the location of the world’s worst nuclear accident when a nuclear reactor exploded in April 1986, sending radioactive waste across Europe. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed in a statement that its ground forces have moved into Ukraine from Crimea. The ministry added that it has destroyed a total of 83 Ukrainian military facilities. In a television address from the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned other countries not to intervene in what he called a “special military operation.” And he said they would face consequences they have never seen. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on all Ukrainians to defend the country. He said arms would be given to anyone prepared to fight. He asked world leaders for help, saying that “if you don’t help us now, if you fail to offer a powerful assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow the war will knock on your door.” The United States and its Western allies quickly condemned the invasion. American President Joe Biden said Thursday from the White House, "Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences.” Biden announced more sanctions that he said would hurt the Russian economy. They targeted four more Russian banks with $1 trillion in assets, high-tech and military industries, and business leaders.
