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Updated Feb 24, 2022 - World

In photos: Russia launches major military assault on Ukraine cities

Rebecca Falconer
Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24.

Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuhuiv, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 24. Photo: Aris Messinis /AFP via Getty Images

Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine were facing a major military assault by Russian forces overnight, in what Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described as "a full-scale invasion" that's killed dozens of people.

The big picture: Shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in Ukraine, Kuleba tweeted: "Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression." President Biden said the U.S. would impose further "severe sanctions" on Russia in response.

A man sits outside his destroyed building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuhuiv on Feb. 24.
A man sits outside his destroyed building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuhuiv on Feb. 24. Photo: Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
A religious woman holds a cross as she prays on Independence square in Kyiv in the morning of February 24.
A woman prays in Kyiv's Independence Square in Kyiv on Feb. 24, as air raid sirens rang out. Photo: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian security forces accompany a wounded man after an airstrike hit an apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on February 24.
Ukrainian security forces accompany a wounded man after an airstrike hit an apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, on Feb. 24. Photo: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Tanks of Ukrainian forces move following Russia's military operation on February 24, 2022, in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine
Tanks of Ukrainian forces move following Russia's military operation on Feb. 24, in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. Photo: Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
People react standing behind the cordoned off area around the remains of a shell in Kyiv on February 24
People react standing behind the cordoned-off area around the remains of a shell in Kyiv on Feb. 24. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Police and security personnel inspect the remains of a shell in a street in Kyiv on February 24
Police and security personnel inspect the remains of a shell in a street in Kyiv on Feb. 24. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
A man walks in a street as black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv on February 24.
A man walks in a street as black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuhuiv on Feb. 24. Photo: Aris Messinis/AFP via Getty Images
A police officer stands guard by the remains of a shell in Kyiv on Feb. 24.
A police officer stands guard by the remains of a shell in Kyiv on Feb. 24. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

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