Russian, Ukrainian Bodies Pile Up As Fighting Rages

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, assaulting by land, sea, and air in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II. Missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities.

Photo Insert: "The Minsk Agreements were dead long before yesterday's recognition of the people's republics of Donbas," said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders from Russia and Belarus, and landing on the coast from the Black and Azov seas, Natalia Zinets and Aleksandar Vasovic reported for Reuters.

"Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in the WW2 years," tweeted Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself & won't give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks."

Calling on Ukrainians to defend their country, he said arms would be given to anyone prepared to fight. He also urged Russians to take to the streets to protest against their government's actions.

US President Joe Biden said he was praying for Ukrainian victims of an "unprovoked and unjustified attack". EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said: "These are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War."

Ukrainian officials said Russian helicopters attacked Gostomel, a military airport near Kyiv, and Ukraine downed three of them. Ukrainian border officials said the Russians were trying to penetrate the Kyiv region and the Zhytomyr region on the Belarusian border, and they were using Grad rockets.

Initial unconfirmed reports of casualties included Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian bombardment and border guards defending the frontier. Regional authorities of Ukraine's southern Odessa region said 18 people were killed in a missile attack.

At least six people were killed in Brovary, a town near Kyiv, authorities there said. CNN and Reuters said 40 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the fighting.

Ukraine's military said it had destroyed four Russian tanks on a road near Kharkiv, killed 50 troops near a town in the Luhansk region, and downed six Russian warplanes in the east.

Russia denied reports its aircraft or armored vehicles had been destroyed. Russian-backed separatists claimed to have downed two Ukrainian planes. Only one Antonov transport plane was shot down, Ukraine acknowledged.

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