Russian saboteurs who attempted to enter Kyiv disguised as Ukrainians have been neutralised, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on February 24, 2022, the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Suspilne reported.
Infiltrators
Maliar did not give details of the number of saboteurs or where they had been stopped. Ukrainian officials warned throughout the day that Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were trying to infiltrate cities, and urged residents to report suspicious people and markings on buildings.
The invasion begins
In the early hours of February 24, Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation,” and Russian forces launched missile strikes on cities across Ukraine and a ground invasion from Russia, Belarus and occupied Crimea. Russian helicopter-borne troops attacked Hostomel airfield near Kyiv, and Russian forces seized the Chornobyl exclusion zone.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law and broke off diplomatic relations with Russia. Kyiv residents sheltered in metro stations as air raid sirens sounded across the capital, and long queues formed at petrol stations and on roads leading west.
Sources
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