Russia's Vladimir Putin has authorised a "special military operation" in Ukraine, invading the eastern European nation in what is being described as the continent's "darkest hour since the Second World War".
Within minutes of Putin making the announcement, explosions were heard throughout the country, including in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, the capital of Kyiv and in northern centres close to the Russian border.
Putin said clashes between Russia and Ukraine were inevitable and claims his military actions are a response to threats from Ukraine. Russia has spent the last year building up its forces on the border and Putin spent much of a near-hour long speech on Tuesday belittling Ukraine and its history.
He said on Thursday that any foreign interference will result in serious consequences. Western nations have imposed a number of sanctions on Russian officials, banks and infrastructure over the last day after Putin declared two eastern Ukrainian regions to be independent.
World leaders expressed outrage at Thursday's attack, with US President Joe Biden warning there will be a "catastrophic loss of life". Others, including New Zealand, have said it breaches international rules, while the Belgium Prime Minister has called it "Europe's darkest hour since the Second World War".
These live updates have now finished.
9:50pm - These live updates have now finished for the night, but we'll be back first thing on Friday morning to bring you all the latest developments from Ukraine.
For now, you can tune into Newshub Late from 10:35pm where Janika ter Ellen will interview former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, international relations expert Robert Patman and AP reporter Josef Federman, who is live on the ground in Kyiv.
9:40pm - National leader Christopher Luxon has called on the Government to pass sanctions against Russia.
"National strongly condemns President Putin’s attack on Ukraine," he wrote in a tweet on Thursday night.
"This is a fundamental breach of international law that requires a coordinated international response which New Zealand must be part of. The Government needs to pass Autonomous Sanctions next week."
9:30pm - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says "a package of massive sanctions" will be unleashed on Russia, pending approval from European leaders.
"We will weaken Russia's economic base and its capacity to modernise... These sanctions are designed to take a heavy toll on the Kremlin's interests and on their ability to finance the war."
9:20pm - Reuters has posted a livestream of one of the main roads out of Ukraine capital Kyiv.
It's absolute gridlock at the moment as locals try and escape the city amid attacks.
9:10pm - Ukraine's armed forces are heavily outnumbered and outgunned by Russia's, but as Russia begins what may be a large-scale invasion, military experts say they would be capable of mounting significant resistance and inflicting heavy casualties.
Ukraine's army is also better trained and equipped than in 2014, when Russia captured the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine without a fight, and is widely seen as highly motivated to defend the country's heartland.
Here's more from Reuters about how Ukraine's armed forces stack up to Russia's.
8:45pm - The New Zealand Government has conveyed its support directly to the government of Ukraine, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade says.
Deputy Secretary Rob Taylor spoke to Ukrainian Ambassador Kateryna Zelenko.
"Deputy Secretary Taylor condemned the unprovoked attack by Russia on the people of Ukraine. He also outlined measures NZ is ready to take, aligned with our international partners," MFAT said.
8:35pm - University of Otago international relations professor Robert Patman says it's only a matter of time before the Russia-Ukraine conflict will disrupt our economy.
"Quite soon, almost immediately. Decisions about transferring money and prices are made at the press of a button," Patman told Newshub.
"We often think of ourselves as being geographically isolated, but in fact, we trade with more than 100 countries in the world. We're going to be quite significantly, but indirectly, impacted by these events."
7:45pm - This footage has just emerged. It is said to be of a damaged apartment complex south of Kharkiv, which is a centre in north-eastern Ukraine. It was reported earlier that explosions had been heard in Kharkiv.
7:40pm - The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is holding a press conference, he says Russia "has chosen war".
"I'll call it what it is: the Russian government launched a brutal invasion, unprovoked, on Ukraine and should be condemned for doing so – and Australia does.
"The footage that is emerging of missile strikes, air-raid sirens, and reports of hundreds of casualties – as yet unconfirmed – are sadly not surprising given the events we've been witnessing for some time now, and have been warning about."
7:30pm - The Green Party has now released a statement, with Foreign Affairs spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman saying New Zealand has a role in facilitating peace in Ukraine.
"Our first thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and their families, as well as the political activists, journalists, human rights defenders and Rainbow community members who dedicate their lives working to build a peaceful and inclusive future for their country and are likely to be particular targets of Russian violence.
"Aotearoa New Zealand has proud history of being a voice for peace on the global stage and now more than ever we need that voice to be loud and strong. The Green Party calls on the Government to make best efforts to facilitate peace mediation. It can do this by speaking immediately to our allies and trading partners, particularly the United States and China, and begin working with them for a swift resolution that promotes non-violence and de-escalation of force in Ukraine."
7:25pm - Here are some images from Getty of Ukrainians leaving their homes with bags and suitcases. The Russian invasion happened early in the morning local time, so many would have been asleep when the news first came through.
7:10pm - Russia is now coming out with its own claims, saying Ukraine's air bases have been neutralised.
7:05pm - Russia's attack on Ukraine has thrown Europe back into a situation it thought the continent had long overcome, Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Thursday.
"This is Europe's darkest hour since the Second World War," he said on Twitter.
"This Russian aggression is unnecessary and unprovoked. Our hearts and minds are with the people of Ukraine."
- Reuters
7pm - Further to that earlier report that Ukraine's Air Defence had shot down a Russian plan, the Ukraine military is now saying five Russian planes and one Russian helicopter have been shot down in Luhansk.
Reuters says Russia is denying this.
6:50pm - The Ukrainian Air Defence has shot down a Russian plane in eastern Ukraine, according to Reuters.
It comes as the Ukraine State Emergency Service says an ammunition depot near to Kyiv has caught on fire.
6:30pm - CNN and Reuters are reporting Ukrainian border forces as saying that Belarusian troops have joined Russian troops in attacking Ukraine.
The US media outlet is also broadcasting a livestream apparently of the Belarus-Ukraine border, which shows tanks rolling into Ukraine. It's unclear, however, if those tanks are Belarusian forces or Russian forces that had been stationed in Belarus. A CNN reporter says, regardless, Belarus would have to provide permission for the Russian troops to cross over into Ukraine from the Belarusian side.
6:25pm - Newshub reported earlier on Thursday that 23 New Zealanders remain in Ukraine.
"The New Zealand Embassy in Warsaw has made contact with all New Zealanders registered on SafeTravel as being in Ukraine," an MFAT spokesperson told Newshub.
"The embassy has helped several New Zealanders depart. We are aware of at least 17 New Zealanders who have departed Ukraine since our advice was issued, including some who were not registered on SafeTravel. "
6:20pm - As you can hear in the videos below, sirens are being blasted throughout the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. According to a The Guardian reporter in the city, a basement he is in is "filling up with families with small children".
The city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, has said Ukraine is under attack.
"In Kyiv we can hear noise of shelling. The worst enemy now is panic. Keep calm. Everyone not involved in critical city functions, stay home. We have to prevail"
6:10pm - The European Union will hold Moscow accountable for the "unjustified" attack on Ukraine, the chief of the bloc's Executive Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Thursday.
"In these dark hours, our thoughts are with Ukraine and the innocent women, men and children as they face this unprovoked attack and fear for their lives," she said on Twitter.
"We will hold the Kremlin accountable," von der Leyen added.
EU leaders are set to hold an emergency summit in Brussels later on Thursday, after a first round of EU sanctions on Russia took effect on Wednesday.
- Reuters
6:05pm - Russian-backed separatists said on Thursday they had launched an offensive on the Ukrainian-controlled town of Shchastia in the Luhansk province, Russia's Interfax news agency said, as Russia started a military operation in Ukraine.
- Reuters
6pm - Newshub Live at 6pm is starting. It will have the latest on the Ukraine crisis. You can watch it here or on Three.
5:55pm - We have just received this statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta:
Aotearoa New Zealand condemns the advance of Russian military personnel and equipment into Ukraine, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced.
"New Zealand condemns the advance of military personnel and equipment into of Ukraine, which represents a clear violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We stand with the people of Ukraine impacted by this conflict. Our thoughts are with them," Nanaia Mahuta said.
"Russia's actions are a flagrant breach of fundamental international rules; the use of force to change borders is strictly prohibited under international law.
"We join the international community in calling on Russia to cease military operations in Ukraine, and immediately and permanently withdraw, to ensure all possible steps are taken to protect civilians in line with international humanitarian law, and return to diplomatic negotiations to de-escalate this conflict.
"We remain in close contact with partners on the evolving situation, including on appropriate measures being considered by the international community. I will make a further announcement in due course," Nanaia Mahuta said.
5:50pm - The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his government will introduce martial law throughout the country. He says Russia has carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and on border guards.
He has just got off the phone with US President Joe Biden.
5:45pm - The Russian Defence Ministry has just put out a statement, according to Reuters. It apparently says Russia is targetting attacks on Ukraine's military infrastructure with "high-precision weapons". It says it is not targeting cities with missile or artillery strikes.
5:40pm - China, which declared a 'no-limits' friendship with Russia earlier this year, has said the door for peaceful resolutions to the Ukraine situation should not be closed. It doesn't want to see the situation intensified, according to its envoy to the UN. There appears to be no condemnation of Russia from China.
5:30pm - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a last-minute plea on Wednesday to Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war 'in the name of humanity', after the Russian leader announced a military operation in eastern Ukraine.
"President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia," Guterres said, speaking after an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Ukraine.
The consequences of a war would be devastating for Ukraine and far-reaching for the global economy, he added.
- Reuters
5:20pm - Amid reports of missile strikes on Ukrainian centres and airports, it's being reported that staff and passengers are being evacuated from Kyiv's Boryspil airport.
The airspace over Ukraine was earlier closed, with airlines warned of the risk of an unintended shootdown or cyber attack.
5:15pm - National's Gerry Brownlee has just released a statement calling for the Government to pass legislation giving New Zealand the ability to join its partners in imposing sanctions. He's been urging the Government all week to introduce an autonomous sanctions regime.
"We totally condemn President Putin’s decision conduct military operations in Ukraine. There is no possible justification for the catastrophic damage to human life this will bring.
"This a threat to global peace and stability many have never seen their lifetime, and the time for twiddling thumbs and putting out statements is over.
"It is not too late for the New Zealand Government to pass legislation allowing our country to join in coordination with sanctions being used by our traditional partners to send a clear message to Russia and deter this violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
"If they don’t, this Government must explain why."
ACT's Brooke van Velden has tweeted: "Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine as they suffer unprovoked attacks by Russian military forces. Russia’s actions will lead to unnecessary hurt, destruction, and loss of life."
"These actions violate international law, which we as a small nation champion and depend on. This is a sad day for Ukraine and all democratic countries that rely on rules-based international order."
5:10pm - The Ukrainian representative before the UN Security Council has said there is no purgatory for war criminals and they will go straight to hell.
It is being noted widely that the UN Security Council was formed to prevent the exact type of events that we are seeing this evening. The council was meeting, pleading with the Russians to stop any invasion at the same time as Putin made his remarks ordering the operation.
5:05pm - There are reports of missile strikes on a number of targets in Ukraine. Reuters says that Ukrainian military command centres in Kyiv (the capital in central Ukraine) and Kharkiv (near the northern border with Russia) have been attacked by missile strikes.
5pm - Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has just tweeted that Putin has launched a "full-scale invasion of Ukraine".
"Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now."
4:55pm - Here's a bit more of Putin said earlier when he announced the special military operation in Ukraine.
He made this plea of Ukraine's military:
"I urge you to immediately lay down your weapons and go home. All servicemen of the Ukrainian army who fulfil this demand will be able to freely leave the combat zone and return to their families."
He said Russia was only responding to threats from Ukraine and wanted to de-militarise and "de-Nazify' the country.
"Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine.
"All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine.
"No one should have any doubt that a direct attack on our country will lead to defeat and terrible consequences for any potential aggressor."
4:50pm - The Russian representative to the United Nations has reportedly just told the UN Security Council that Russia's operation fell under Article 51 of the UN charter. This states that countries can act in self-defence "if an armed attack occurs". It is clear though that Russia is acting offensively, not defensively.
The Ukrainian envoy says Russia has declared a war and it is the UN Security Council's duty to stop a war. The Russian representative says it's not a war.
4:45pm - Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has tweeted about the "shocking news" in Ukraine.
"Bomb blasts heard far beyond separatist areas. Russian intervention is clear & massive violation of international law & Ukrainian sovereignty. Fast moving events."
4:35pm - The British Ambassador to Ukraine has described Putin's actions as a "wholly unprovoked attack on a peaceful country".
"Horrified. Just because you’ve prepared and thought about this possibility for weeks and months doesn’t mean it isn’t shocking when it actually happens," Melinda Simmons tweeted.
4:30pm - US President Joe Biden has just issued a statement saying the "prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces".
He said Putin has chosen a "premeditated war that will bring catastrophic loss of life and human suffering" and that Russia alone is responsible.
He said the US and its Allies will respond in a u"nited and decisive" way.
"The world will hold Russia accountable."
4:15pm - A reporter speaking to CNN live from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv said he heard "four or five" explosions while on air.
"I've never heard anything like this... I can hear rumblings right now."
4pm - According to reporting from Reuters, Putin said clashes between Russia and Ukraine are inevitable. He claims "threats" from Ukraine have demanded decisive action from Russia and that the responsibility for any bloodshed will be on the Ukrainian government.
It's reported that Putin said Russia does not plan to occupy Ukrainian territory. However, Putin has also claimed in recent months that he has had no intention of invading Ukraine, yet that is now happening.
He said any foreign interference will result in serious consequences.
There are reports of explosions being heard across a number of Ukrainian cities, including Kramatorsk, a main centre in northern Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine. Donetsk is one of the breakaway regions that Putin on Tuesday declared to be independent.
From earlier from Reuters:
Separatists in Ukraine asked Moscow to help repel "aggression" on Wednesday and explosions rocked the breakaway eastern city of Donetsk as the United States warned everything is in place for a major attack by Russia on its neighbour.
"We believe, along with Ukraine, that a full-scale, furthern invasion into Ukraine by Russia is imminent," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US' representative to the UN at a meeting on Thursday afternoon.
She said Russian troops have been moved into eastern ukraine and into "combat-ready positions".
Hours after the breakaway regions issued their plea, at least five explosions were heard in the separatist-held eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on Thursday morning, a Reuters witness said. Four military trucks were seen heading to the scene.
Airlines should stop flying over any part of Ukraine because of the risk of an unintended shootdown or a cyber attack targeting air traffic control amid tensions with Russia, a conflict zone monitor said.
"Russia has positioned its forces at the final point of readiness," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC Nightly News. "Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine."
The United Nations Security Council will discuss the stand-off on Wednesday night, diplomats said, in the 15-member body's second late night meeting on the crisis this week.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke separately with her counterparts from Britain and Canada, with officials planning to stay in close touch on potential further responses. G7 leaders are also due to talk on Thursday.
Convoys of military equipment including nine tanks were seen moving towards Donetsk earlier on Wednesday from the direction of the Russian border, a Reuters witness reported.
Shelling has intensified since Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two separatist regions as independent and ordered the deployment of what he called peacekeepers, a move the West calls the start of an invasion.
Moscow has long denied that it has plans to invade despite massing tens of thousands of troops near its neighbor.
"I am asking for help to repel the Ukrainian regime's military aggression against the population of the Donetsk People's Republic," said Denis Pushilin who heads the area Moscow recognised as independent, according to TASS news agency.
The White House rejected the separatist plea for help as another Russian "false flag" operation, a fake crisis manufactured to justify greater intervention.
"This is an example of it," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. "That is suggesting that they feel under threat. By whom? The Ukrainians that the Russians are threatening to attack?"
U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has dismissed claims of a genocide in eastern Ukraine. Under international law, genocide is an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
WAR FOOTING?
A total of 80% of the soldiers assembled are in a position to launch a full-scale invasion on Ukraine, a senior U.S. defence official said.
Satellite imagery taken on Wednesday showed new deployments in western Russia, many of them within 10 miles (16 km) of the border with Ukraine and less than 50 miles from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, U.S. satellite company Maxar said.
The images showed field deployment, military convoys, artillery and armoured personnel carriers with support equipment and troops. The images could not be independently verified by Reuters.
Russia has partially closed airspace in the Rostov flight information region to the east of its border with Ukraine "in order to provide safety" for civil aviation flights, according to its notice to airmen.
A 30-day state of emergency in Ukraine restricting the freedom of movement of conscripted reservists, curbing the media and imposing personal document checks, according to a draft text, begins on Thursday.
The Ukrainian government has also announced compulsory military service for all men of fighting age.
While the West has held off the most stringent sanctions measures it could impose, the United States stepped up the pressure by imposing sanctions on the firm building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its corporate officers.
Germany on Tuesday froze approvals for the pipeline, which has been built but was not yet in operation, amid concerns it could allow Moscow to weaponize energy supplies to Europe.
The rouble plunged more than 3% as the European Union blacklisted Russian lawmakers, freezing their assets and banning travel. Wall Street slipped on news of security measures taken by Ukraine's government.
'SILENCE' ON TALKS
Ukrainian government websites, which have experienced outages in recent weeks blamed by Kyiv on cyber attacks, were again offline on Wednesday. Ukraine's parliament, cabinet and foreign ministry websites were affected.
Moscow has described warnings of an invasion as anti-Russian hysteria. On Wednesday, it took down flags from its embassy in Kyiv, having ordered its diplomats to evacuate for safety reasons.
Ukraine's military said one soldier had been killed and six wounded in increased shelling by pro-Russian separatists using heavy artillery, mortar bombs and Grad rocket systems in the two breakaway areas in the last 24 hours.
Russia says the crisis is a dispute with the West, demanding security guarantees, including a promise never to allow Ukraine to join NATO.
But the recognition of the separatist regions was accompanied by much stronger language against Ukraine, which Putin called an artificial construct wrongly carved out of Russia by its enemies.
While both sides have said they are still open to diplomacy to resolve the crisis, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow had approved an offensive and not replied to an invitation for talks.
"Today I initiated a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation. The result was silence," he said.
Reuters
