Russia Attacks Ukraine on Multiple Fronts

USPA NEWS - It was a beautiful sunrise this morning in northeast Hungary. Smoke streaming from chimneys, birds starting their day, trucks and vans busy on the roads, making their deliveries. Everyone going about their business. While 650 miles away in Kyiv, Ukraine, air raid sirens have sounded and the city has begun to lock down and take to shelters.

Overnight, Russia had started a full invasion of Ukraine and has fired ballistic missiles at the Kyiv area, and other cities across the country. Currently, targets have been airfields and military bases. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law across the country, closing schools, placing hospitals on high alert and telling everyone not involved in crucial infrastructure to stay at home.

While writing, breaking news on NBC has reported that the General Office of the National Police are reporting six dead, seven wounded and 19 missing in Podolsk, in the Odesa region of Ukraine. Odesa is the third most populated city in the country and located on the Black Sea. It is known as a major tourism area, seaport and transportation hub. The United States Department of State, Consular Affairs, is also reporting that Russia has attacked targets “in a number of major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Mariupol, and others.” They are advising U.S. citizens in the Ukraine to shelter in place.

Blasts are now being reported in more cities, as far west as Ivano-Frankivsk, 310 miles from my home. Moments before the attacks started this morning, Vladimir Putin made a statement on Russian television, that he did not plan to occupy Ukraine and was demanding their military to lay down their arms. Apparantly, this was a pre-recorded message, with missile attacks planned for immediately after that message was aired.

Hungary deployed an unspecified number of troops to their border with Ukraine on Tuesday, for security purposes and humanitarian tasks. Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, states that Hungary will stay out of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, while informing the defence ministry to prevent armed groups from entering Hungary.

Thank you for reading my article. All my information comes from verified sources.

I welcome comments and you can follow me on Instagram at @wendywesthoven or on Twitter at @wendy_westhoven.

Wendy writes for the United States Press Agency and is a former columnist with the Fulton County Expositor, Wauseon, Ohio.

Sources:
BBC. (2022, February 24). Ukraine conflict: Russian forces invade after Putin TV declaration. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60503037.
MSNBC aired television reports
My Facebook feeds from Hungary Today and the U.S. Department of State, Consular Affairs.
Talmazan, Y. and Smith, A. (2022, February 24). Explosions, sirens heard in Kyiv as Russia launches attacks on key Ukrainian cities. NBC News app.