Explosions, sirens heard in Kyiv as Russia launches attacks on key Ukrainian cities

  After months of warnings by Washington and its allies, he Russian president announced the attack in a televised address. Russia launched attacks on multiple cities in Ukraine on Wednesday evening, a decisive escalation after months of military buildup that stirred dire warnings from the United States and its allies.

Air raid sirens rang out across the central capital of Kyiv and explosions were seen and heard there and in other cities across the country, NBC News reporters on the ground said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law across the country, closing schools, placing hospitals on high alert and telling everyone not involved in crucial infrastructure to stay at home.

Ukraine said that the Russian military was attacking with the help of Belarus, one of Moscow's only allies. Although Russian troops have been deployed to Belarus for months, NBC News was not immediately able to confirm Belarus' involvement in the attacks. Ukraine said its troops had returned fire, and it was clarifying information on injuries, its interior ministry said.

The first blasts came just minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a public address that he had authorized a military action against Ukraine.

 

Putin said he was taking action to “demilitarize” Ukraine because the West had pushed too far in trying to draw the country into the NATO alliance and had threatened Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.

“I urge you to immediately lay down your weapons and go home,” Putin said, speaking to Ukrainian soldiers during a special televised address. 

There is little evidence of Russia’s claims of Ukrainian aggression, and the U.S. has been warning for months that Moscow was trying to manufacture a pretext to start a conflict.

Putin also warned against any retaliation from other countries.

“The response from Russia will be so severe that no foreign nations have ever experienced it before,” Putin said. “All decisions have been made.”

Ukrainian officials reported that cruise or ballistic missiles targeted military control centers in the Kyiv area.

Reporting from the capital, NBC News’ Erin McLaughlin said that as dawn broke “people here are terrified. They have been staying up all night monitoring the situation and there has been an element of disbelief up until this point that the Russians would go after the capital.”

Ukrainian officials said the full invasion had begun. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that “the world can and must stop Putin.”

The attacks drew swift rebuke from President Joe Biden, who vowed to take action.

“Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way,” he said in a statement. “The world will hold Russia accountable.” 

Russia has surrounded Ukraine on three sides with some 150,000 troops, in addition to air and naval forces. The buildup, allied with Moscow’s bold security demands, prompted fears of an invasion and stark predictions for civilian and military casualties.