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Russian ground troops were reported entering the Ukraine at around 06:48 local time near the city of Senkivka on the northern border, with others entering from the Crimea in the south shortly thereafter.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/23/europe/russia-ukraine-putin-military-operation-donbas-intl-hnk/index.html Russia launches military attack on Ukraine with reports of explosions and troops crossing border]. CNN. Thu February 24, 2022.</ref> Ukrainian government sources reported throughout the day that Russian units had launched attacks on numerous targets, including a landing of airborne soldiers at the Antonov International Airport outside Kiev, but added that their own forces were counterattacking and had inflicted heavy casualties on the Russians. A press conference by Ukrainian President Zelensky at 16:00 Kiev time revealed that heavy fighting was occurring in the [[Chernobyl]] Exclusion Zone, site of the 1986 nuclear accident, which lies along the direct route of advance towards Kiev from the north.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chernobyl-nuclear-russia-attack-ukraine-b2022444.html Fighting breaks out close to Chernobyl nuclear waste facility, says Ukrainian president] Rory Sullivan, ''The Independent'' (UK). Thu 24 Feb 2022.</ref>
Russian ground troops were reported entering the Ukraine at around 06:48 local time near the city of Senkivka on the northern border, with others entering from the Crimea in the south shortly thereafter.<ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/23/europe/russia-ukraine-putin-military-operation-donbas-intl-hnk/index.html Russia launches military attack on Ukraine with reports of explosions and troops crossing border]. CNN. Thu February 24, 2022.</ref> Ukrainian government sources reported throughout the day that Russian units had launched attacks on numerous targets, including a landing of airborne soldiers at the Antonov International Airport outside Kiev, but added that their own forces were counterattacking and had inflicted heavy casualties on the Russians. A press conference by Ukrainian President Zelensky at 16:00 Kiev time revealed that heavy fighting was occurring in the [[Chernobyl]] Exclusion Zone, site of the 1986 nuclear accident, which lies along the direct route of advance towards Kiev from the north.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/chernobyl-nuclear-russia-attack-ukraine-b2022444.html Fighting breaks out close to Chernobyl nuclear waste facility, says Ukrainian president] Rory Sullivan, ''The Independent'' (UK). Thu 24 Feb 2022.</ref>
==Reactions==
Russia's actions in the Donbas region were condemned by a number of world leaders. In a speech to the House of Commons on 24 February, British Prime Minister [[Boris Johnson]] called Putin's claim of seeking the "demilitarisation and denazification" of the Ukraine an "absurd pretext" and accused him of attacking his "free and peaceful neighbor. "Putin will stand condemned," he said, "in the eyes of the world and of history."<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgQ10FfZyOs</ref> [[NATO]] Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO troops would be deployed to Poland in the near future; at the same time, the [[EU]] warned of "massive" sanctions against Russian assets.<ref>[https://euobserver.com/world/154423 'Massive' EU sanctions to target Putin's war chest]. Andrew Rettman, ''The EUObserver''. Thu 24 Feb 2022.</ref>
[[Pope Francis]] declared the next [[Ash Wednesday]] (2 March) to be an international day of fasting and prayer for peace, while Justin Welby, the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], called Russian movement into the Ukraine "an act of great evil."<ref>[https://www.churchofengland.org/media-and-news/press-releases/attack-ukraine-act-great-evil-statement-archbishops-canterbury-and Attack on Ukraine 'an act of great evil'-statement from Archbishops of Canterbury and York] The Church of England, 24 February 2022.</ref>
== References ==
== References ==