Ukraine

LUGANSK, February 24. /TASS/: Several fighters of the 57th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces voluntarily laid down their weapons and defected to the Lugansk People's Republic’s side, a correspondent of the LuganskInformCenter in the Krymskoye settlement reports.

The Lugansk People's Militia command said that the surrendered fighters "will be released home after the hostilities’ end".

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee. Ukraine’s government said Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border in a “full-scale war” that could rewrite the geopolitical order and whose fallout already reverberated around the world.

Boston, Feb 24 (AP) Ukraine's parliament and other government and banking websites were hit with another punishing wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks, and cybersecurity researchers said unidentified attackers had also infected hundreds of computers with destructive malware.

Some of the infected computers were in neighbouring Latvia and Lithuania, the researchers said.

New Delhi, Feb 24 (PTI) An Air India plane took off for Ukraine on Thursday morning to bring back Indians from the eastern European nation, which is now facing a Russian offensive.

However, as the Ukrainian authorities on Thursday morning closed the country's airspace for civil aircraft operations, Air India and the central government are considering whether the plane should be called back or allowed to continue on its journey, officials said.

Moscow, Feb 24 (AP) Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine on Thursday, 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.

Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of an Russian invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine's democratically elected government.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — One by one, embassies and international offices in Kyiv closed. Flight after flight was canceled when insurance companies balked at covering planes arriving in Ukraine. Hundreds of millions of dollars in investment dried up within weeks.

With Russian troops encircling much of the country, Ukrainian businesses large and small no longer plan for the future — they can barely foresee what will happen week to week.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia began evacuating its embassy in Kyiv, and Ukraine urged its citizens to leave Russia on Wednesday as the region braced for further confrontation after President Vladimir Putin received authorization to use military force outside his country and the West responded with sanctions.

KIEV, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said early Tuesday that Kiev has been urging the international community to hold emergency talks over Russia's decision on the status of Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has been calling for an emergency summit of the Normandy Format, a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, and a special meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to address the issue, Zelensky said in a video address to the nation published on Facebook.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine’s northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Russia another step closer to what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine. Residents of Ukraine’s capital filled a gold-domed cathedral to pray for peace.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The defense minister of Belarus says his country’s joint exercises with Russian troops will continue because of rising tensions in Ukraine.

The exercises, which were to end Sunday, brought a sizable contingent of Russian forces to Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north. The presence of the Russian troops raised concern that they could be used to sweep down on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

Russia and Belarus have tight cooperation under an alliance referred to as the Union State, which stops short of the countries’ actual integration.