A Ukrainian official announced late Thursday it is prohibiting males aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country after Russia invaded earlier in the day.
He added: “Please do not create panic and do not try to cross the border on your own! Victory is upon us! Glory to Ukraine!”
The country started enlisting reservists between those ages, according to Ukraine’s armed forces.
“We are giving away weapons and we will continue doing so to anyone who will ask for it in order to protect our sovereignty,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media. “Our future depends on each and every citizen.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Ukraine’s Minister of Healthcare Oleh Lyashko said the country’s death toll has risen to 57 and at least 169 have been injured. However, that figure is sure to rise as video footage shows Russian and Ukrainian forces battling in several different cities and regions.
The United Nations confirmed that more than 100,000 people have been internally displaced in Ukraine.
“There has been significant displacement inside the country—it seems that more than 100,000 people have moved within the borders fleeing the violence for safety,” Matthew Saltmarsh, a spokesperson for the United Nations’ refugee division, told news outlets. “And there have been movements towards and across international borders. But the situation is still chaotic and evolving fast.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address, and around the same time, explosions and gunfire were heard throughout Ukraine, including near Kyiv. The assault brought a calamitous end to weeks of fruitless diplomatic efforts by Western leaders to avert war.
Putin justified his actions by claiming that the attack on Ukraine is needed to protect civilians in the eastern separatist regions near Russia’s border. Western officials have said Putin’s claims are false and have described Russia’s incursion as a “war of choice.”
Apparently reminding the world of Russia’s extensive nuclear arsenal, Putin warned that “no one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to the destruction and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor.”
On Thursday, Russia and Ukraine made competing claims about the damage they had inflicted. Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed scores of Ukrainian air bases, military facilities, and drones. It confirmed the loss of one of its Su-25 attack jets, blaming “pilot error,” and said an An-26 transport plane had crashed because of technical failure, killing the entire crew. It did not say how many were aboard.
Russia alleged it was not targeting cities, but journalists saw destruction in many civilian areas.
