The Ukrainian military said that it intercepted five Russian planes and a helicopter in the country's east on Thursday, Channel 12 News reported, adding that unconfirmed reports in Russian media told of "dozens" of Ukraine military casualties from shelling by the Kremlin's forces, while Kyiv asserted its pushback of the assault has destroyed four Russian tanks and killed 50 troops near a town in Luhansk.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Russia launched an incursion of Ukraine earlier in the day as President Vladimir Putin cast aside international condemnation and sanctions, warning other countries that any attempt to interfere would lead to "consequences you have never seen."
Israel's Foreign Ministry called on all Israelis in Ukraine to make their way out through the country's western borders: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Around 8,000 Israeli nationals are thought to have remained in Ukraine despite calls from the Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in recent days to leave.
The Foreign Ministry has set up the following emergency phone lines for Ukraine related queries: +972 (0)2-530 3911, +972 (0)2-530 3401,
+972 (0)2-530 3287.
Video: Reuters
World leaders decried the start of a Russian invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine's democratically elected government as explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa before dawn and in Lviv and the western Ukrainian region – to where many countries, including Israel, moved their embassies– later in the morning.
CNN reported that Russian troops were also entering Ukraine from the Belarus border. Its livestream video captured a column of military vehicles entering Ukraine at the Senkivka, Ukraine crossing with Veselovka, Belarus around 6:48 a.m. local time. Ukraine confirmed it was attacked by troops coming in from Russia, Belarus, and Crimea.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg convened a meeting of NATO ambassadors to "address the situation in Ukraine and the consequences of Russia's unprovoked attack." Ukraine borders on several NATO members.
Earlier, Stoltenberg had already condemned Russia's invasion, saying "Despite our repeated warnings and tireless efforts to engage in diplomacy, Russia has chosen the path of aggression." He also warned Moscow that the alliance will "do all it takes to protect and defend" NATO members.
He called the invasion a "grave breach of international law and a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security. I call on Russia to cease its military action immediately."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law on Wednesday night, saying Russia targeted Ukraine's military infrastructure and explosions were heard across the country. Zelenskyy said he had just talked to President Joe Biden and the US was rallying international support for Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic.
Biden pledged new sanctions meant to punish Russia for an act of aggression that the international community had for weeks anticipated but could not prevent through diplomacy.
Putin said the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine – a claim the United States had predicted he would falsely make to justify an invasion.
In a televised address, Putin accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia's demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees. He said Russia doesn't intend to occupy Ukraine but will move to "demilitarize" it and bring those who committed crimes to justice.
As Putin spoke before dawn, big explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, and other cities across Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden in a written statement condemned the "unprovoked and unjustified attack" on Ukraine and promised that the US and its allies "will hold Russia accountable." Biden said he planned to speak to Americans on Thursday after a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders. More sanctions against Russia were expected to be announced on Thursday.
A full-blown Russian invasion could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine's democratically elected government. And the consequences of the conflict and resulting sanctions levied on Russia could reverberate throughout the world, affecting energy supplies in Europe, jolting global financial markets and threatening the post-Cold War balance on the continent.
As he unleashed the military action, Putin issued a stark warning to other countries not to meddle.
"I have a few words for those who could feel tempted to interfere with ongoing developments: whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to the consequences you have never seen in history," he said.
Putin urged Ukrainian servicemen to "immediately put down arms and go home."
Putin announced the military operation after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for military assistance to help fend off Ukrainian "aggression," an announcement that the White House said was a "false flag" operation by Moscow to offer up a pretext for an invasion.
Putin's announcement came just hours after the Ukrainian president rejected Moscow's claims that his country poses a threat to Russia and made a passionate, last-minute plea for peace.
"The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace," Zelenskyy said in an emotional overnight address, speaking in Russian in a direct appeal to Russian citizens. "But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs."
Zelenskyy said he asked to arrange a call with Putin late Wednesday, but the Kremlin did not respond.
In an apparent reference to Putin's move to authorize the deployment of the Russian military to "maintain peace" in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky warned that "this step could mark the start of a big war on the European continent."
"Any provocation, any spark could trigger a blaze that will destroy everything," he said.
He challenged the Russian propaganda claims, saying that "you are told that this blaze will bring freedom to the people of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian people are free."
Ukraine also began conscripting reservists aged 18-60 on Wednesday following a decree by Zelenskiy, the armed forces said in a statement. The maximum service period is one year. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president said he was introducing the conscription of reservists but ruled out a general mobilization.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called by Ukraine because of the imminent threat of a Russian invasion, members still unaware of Putin's announcement appealed to him to stop an attack. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting, just before the announcement, telling Putin: "Stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died."
The emergency meeting was meant as an eleventh-hour effort to dissuade Russia from sending troops into Ukraine. But the message became moot even as it was being delivered.
Upon learning of the invasion, Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the council, "It's too late, my dear colleagues, to speak about de-escalation. l on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war."
Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya called on his Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia to relinquish the presidency of the Security Council, which Russia holds this month, after he said he was not in a position to promise Russia will not shell of bomb Ukrainian cities.
"There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, ambassador," the Ukrainian ambassador told Nebenzia.
Global stocks and US bond yields dived on Thursday, while the dollar, gold and oil prices rocketed higher as Russian troops landed in Ukrainian.
US stock market futures were down sharply, with S&P 500 e-minis down 2.3% and Nasdaq futures 2.8% weaker. Brent crude futures, which seesawed between sharp rises and falls on Wednesday, jumped more than 3.5% to shoot past $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since September 2014. West Texas Intermediate leaped 4.6% to $96.22 per barrel, their highest since August 2014.
The global flight to safety boosted the dollar, which jumped more than half a% a basket of other major trading partners to 96.715. The euro was down 0.8% on the day at $1.1220.
The Russian rouble turned violently lower after posting small gains early in the session. It was last down nearly 4% on top of a 3% slump against the dollar on Wednesday.
The sell-off spread to cryptocurrency markets, pushing bitcoin below $35,000 for the first time in a month.
The action reflected increasing concern among Ukrainian authorities after weeks of trying to project calm. The Foreign Ministry advised against travel to Russia and recommended that any Ukrainians who are there leave immediately.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Wednesday the Russian force of more than 150,000 troops arrayed along Ukraine's borders is in an advanced state of readiness. "They are ready to go right now," Kirby said.
Early Thursday, airspace over all of Ukraine was shut down to civilian air traffic, according to a notice to airmen. A commercial flight tracking website showed that an Israeli El Al Boeing 787 flying from Tel Aviv to Toronto turned abruptly out of Ukrainian airspace before detouring over Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. The only other aircraft tracked over Ukraine was a US RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane, which began flying westward early Thursday after Russia put in place flight restrictions over Ukrainian territory.
Another wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks hit Ukraine's parliament and other government and banking websites on Wednesday, and cybersecurity researchers said unidentified attackers had also infected hundreds of computers with destructive malware.
Officials have long said they expect cyberattacks to precede and accompany any Russian military incursion, and analysts said the incidents hew to a nearly two-decade-old Russian playbook of wedding cyber operations with real-world aggression.
Even before Putin's announcement, dozens of nations imposed sanctions on Russia, further squeezing Russian oligarchs and banks out of international markets.
Biden allowed sanctions to move forward against the company that built the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and against the company's CEO.
Germany said Tuesday that it was indefinitely suspending the project, after Biden charged that Putin had launched "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine" by sending troops into the separatist regions. The pipeline is complete but has not yet begun operating.
Even before the Russian military attack on Ukraine began, the threat of war had shredded Ukraine's economy and raised the specter of massive casualties, energy shortages across Europe and global economic chaos.
European Union leaders will discuss new, tough sanctions on Russia at an emergency meeting later on Thursday, in reaction to its "barbaric attack" on Ukraine, the 27-nation bloc's officials said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has shrugged off the sanctions, saying that "Russia has proven that, with all the costs of the sanctions, it is able to minimize the damage."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Wednesday that Russia had evacuated night-shift staff at the Titan chemicals plant in Crimea.
The chemicals producer is in Armyansk in the northern part of the Ukrainian peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, about 2 km (1-1/4 mile) from territory under Ukrainian control.
The Titan plant and the Crimean department of the Russian emergency ministry were not available for comments in the early hours on Thursday.
Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers were seen in Armyansk in recent days, a Crimean resident told Reuters.
"There is a lot of military hardware. The drill ended but it stayed," the resident said.
Ukraine's foreign minister said the evacuation of the plant was a possible preparation for another staged provocation by Russia.
"Moscow seems to have no limits in attempts to falsify pretexts for further aggression," he wrote.
The military intelligence unit did not rule out that Russia could stage a "terrorist attack" or "chemical sabotage."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
Global stocks and US bond yields dived on Thursday, while the dollar, gold and oil prices rocketed higher as Russian troops landed in Ukrainian.
US stock market futures were down sharply, with S&P 500 e-minis down 2.3% and Nasdaq futures 2.8% weaker. Brent crude futures, which seesawed between sharp rises and falls on Wednesday, jumped more than 3.5% to shoot past $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since September 2014. West Texas Intermediate leaped 4.6% to $96.22 per barrel, their highest since August 2014.
The global flight to safety boosted the dollar, which jumped more than half a% a basket of other major trading partners to 96.715. The euro was down 0.8% on the day at $1.1220.
The Russian rouble turned violently lower after posting small gains early in the session. It was last down nearly 4% on top of a 3% slump against the dollar on Wednesday.
The sell-off spread to cryptocurrency markets, pushing bitcoin below $35,000 for the first time in a month.
