Russia says destroyed Ukraine airbases

Russia's defence ministry on Thursday (24 February) said it had neutralised Ukrainian military airbases and its air defence systems, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive against his country's neighbour.

"Military infrastructure at Ukrainian army air bases has been rendered out of action," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement, reports the Live Mint. 

It also added that Kyiv's air defence systems were "eliminated".

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military claimed to have downed five Russian planes and a helicopter in the east of the country near a rebel-held enclave.

"According to the Joint Forces Command, today, February 24, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, five planes and a helicopter of the aggressors were shot down," the army general staff said.

US President Joe Biden spoke with the Ukrainian President after Russia launched what they called a full-scale invasion.

The conversation came soon after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine overnight, with explosions heard in multiple parts of the country.

Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east.

Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.