Scenes of chaos engulfed the capital of Ukraine on Thursday, after residents were awakened before dawn to the sound of missiles raining down on Kyiv. The country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, which borders Russia in the northeast, received a steady stream of blasts. Throughout the day, cars jammed highways in a desperate attempt to flee bombarded cities, thousands sheltered in subway stations, and backpack-carrying refugees made their way to border crossings.
The escalation, which Russia described as a “special military operation,” and the United States called “premeditated war,” has become the largest threat to peace in Europe since World War II, world leaders say.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is now playing out via land, sea, and air. Hundreds
