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Russia has launched a major military assault against Ukraine -- in defiance of international pleas for peace and the threat of severe sanctions from the West.

President Vladimir Putin announced the operation in a televised address in the early hours of the morning. He urged the Ukrainian army to give up its weapons and warned that any powers that tried to intervene would face retaliation.

Explosions have been heard across Ukraine, from the capital Kyiv to Kramatorsk and Mariuopol, close to the front-line with Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas.

Vadym Halaichuk, is an MP and a member of President Zelensky's party. He says Ukrainian troops are prepared for full-scale war and have hit back at 鈥渦nidentified flying objects鈥�, adding they are ready to 鈥渞eturn to negotiations and diplomatic resolution鈥� but there 鈥渋s no chance of accepting Putin鈥檚 ultimatum to submit to Russia ruling and Ukraine giving up its sovereignty and territorial integrity鈥�.

(Picture: Smoke rises over the area near the town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, Ukraine February 24, 2022. Credit: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

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