Ukrainians woke up to the sound of rockets and air strikes when their worst fears were realized, with explosions in Kiev causing the ground to tremble and windows to tremble.
People all over the country ran to the bomb basements Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade.
Shortly after 5 a.m., the folds of the explosions shook the windows of my hotel room as MailOnline photographer Simon Ashton and I donned bulletproof vests and helmets that had been unused in their bags for the past month.
For an hour the night sky lit up in the distance north and east of the city when military targets were hit by bombs and we fled to the basement for safety.
The braver ones – or perhaps the stupidest ones – headed in the other direction to the rooftop bar on the 11th floor of the Intercontinental Hotel, where many international media outlets were based.
Pictured: Remains of a Russian rocket in Kiev. These are reported to be the remains of an X-31 series air-to-surface missile. Most likely the anti-radiation variant X-31P or PD
A man stands by the aftermath of the Russian shelling in Kiev, Ukraine, on Thursday
Pictured: An explosion can be seen in the distance when Russian air strikes hit Kiev
Nick Craven in front of the Russian embassy, where crosses by Ukrainians “Russian occupiers” are placed, one of which has a note in English: “Welcome to hell”
At 6.36 am there was the strongest explosion from our point of view, which is believed to be an air strike on a military airport near Kiev, which made the ground beneath our feet tremble.
There was an ominous lull until dawn when a cloudy rainy day began, interrupted only by the merry bells of the bells of St. Michael’s Monastery on the other side of the hotel square at 7 am.
At 7.05 in the morning, the first air raid sirens sounded throughout the city, although at least in the central part there was no blitz.
Undoubtedly, even as the terrible sound of sirens tore through the air, there was a steady stream of headlights driving through the city as travelers came to start the day.
But calm did not last long as the full scale of the Russian invasion began to unfold, with troops attacking the border on three sides and air strikes across the country, even west of Lviv, near the Polish border.
By 8 a.m. local time, queues of people were spotted in front of ATMs in the city, perhaps the first sign of panic since a state of emergency was declared across the country since midnight last night.
Police and soldiers stood in many corners of the streets to keep order.
The traffic jams are visible when people leave the city of Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, February 24, 2022.
Black smoke rises from the military airport in Chuguev near Kharkov on February 24, 2022.
In the photo: A checkpoint of the State Border Service of Ukraine in the Kiev region was shelled
Ukrainian soldiers ride in a military vehicle in Mariupol, Ukraine, Thursday, February 24, 2022.
Long queues formed at gas stations around the city, too, but with so many places pounding in the air, it was not clear where the safest place to escape would be.
With this in mind, although the streets were noticeably quieter than usual at the start of the workday, people were mostly calm about their work, perhaps still coming to terms with what might be next.
When I first arrived in this country a month ago, few Ukrainians took the sound of Putin’s sword seriously.
Most acknowledged that it was possible for him to move to Donbass to annex the pro-Russian breakaway republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, but very few believed that Russia would launch a full-scale invasion of their neighbor.
Last night, while sitting in a local restaurant with colleagues, the mood was gloomy and the streets of Kiev quiet after Russia’s invasion of Donbass two days earlier.
There have been two earlier cases in the last few days where invasions or air strikes were widely expected, but this time it seemed definitely more real.
With many indicators cascading minute by minute, such as massive cyberattacks, a state of emergency, a Russian NOTAM warning and the closure of airspace in eastern Ukraine, the dreaded moment seemed much closer.
Cars drive to city exit after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorizes military operation in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine, February 24
Earlier in the day, we had visited the Russian embassy, now deserted, where someone had planted wooden crosses resembling tombstones bearing the words “Russian Occupiers.”
A scribbled note from one read simply “Welcome to Hell,” no doubt to mean that Ukrainian defenders will fight to the death for every inch of their damaged homeland.
But no matter how bravely these soldiers and reservists fight Putin’s invaders, no one expects them to be able to withstand the enormous power of the Russian army, which is believed to now number about 190,000 and apparently intends to change. of the regime in Kiev.
Ukraine will not be an obstacle, as Kremlin planners have tacitly acknowledged with the construction of a field hospital full of blood supply – and most notably, the provision of at least 45,000 corpse sacks for their troops.
The Ukrainians have already shown their determination to hold the line against the rebel fighters of the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk for eight years, but the forces now moving against them are of a different order.
Massively superior and superior, the best that Ukrainians can hope for now may be to launch a guerrilla offensive against Putin’s invaders and pray for the number of soldiers returning home in these sacks of corpses, after all. account to convince the Russian public of the complete madness of the massacre. conducted on their behalf.