Russia-Ukraine: Russia claims to have destroyed military targets in Ukraine raids

The US Embassy encouraged Americans in Ukraine to shelter in place amid Russia’s military mobilization.

Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Mariupol, and other cities were attacked early Thursday.

Russia claims it wiped out Ukraine’s air force bases and air defense assets in pre-dawn attacks against military targets in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa. Explosions were also heard in Dnipro and Mariupol.

Ukraine officials did not confirm the destruction, but said command facilities, air bases and military depots had been targeted.

The Ukraine military early Thursday said that five Russian planes and one helicopter were shot down amid ongoing areal assault in the city of Luhansk.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said the country was building an anti-Putin coalition to combat the military assault on the nation.

Russian tanks crossed into Sen’kivka, Ukraine from Belarus Thursday, CNN footage showed. Images of the ground invasion aired after explosions were heard in the nation’s capital and elsewhere across the country.

Russian military officials claimed precision missile strikes were launched at military facilities in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro, and no civilians were targeted.

Fearful Kyiv residents were heard screaming in the streets after the explosions but as the morning commute neared, pedestrian and vehicle traffic resumed in relative calm, the Associated Press reported.