By Aditi Sangal, Meg Wagner, Adrienne Vogt, Melissa Macaya, Rob Picheta, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Ed Upright, Maureen Chowdhury and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN
From CNN’s Tim Lister in Kyiv
The Ukrainian Presidency has said that more than 40 soldiers have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began -- and a few dozen injured.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser in the President’s Office, said that in addition to the military casualties, “as far as I know, at the moment there are a few civilian deaths -- up to ten.”
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to “weaken Russia's economic base and its capacity to modernize” following the “barbaric attack” by Moscow against Ukraine.
We will freeze Russian assets in the European Union and stop the access of Russian banks to European financial markets,” Von der Leyen told reporters on Thursday.
“We condemn this barbaric attack and the cynical arguments that are being used to justify it.”
"Harshest" sanctions: Von der Leyen said she will present “massive and strategic” sanctions against Russia for approval later today.
“These sanctions are designed to take a heavy toll on the Kremlin's interests and their ability to finance war. And we know that millions of Russians do not want war,” she said.
“We will not allow President [Vladimir] Putin to replace the rule of law, by the rule of force, and ruthlessness,” she said, "Ukraine will prevail."
Speaking alongside Von der Leyen, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said punitive measures from the 27-member bloc against Russia would be “the harshest packet of sanctions that has ever been implemented.”
From CNN's Tim Lister in Kyiv and Vasco Cotovio in Moscow
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces says it has shot down a sixth Russian plane, this time in the Kramatorsk area.
The update follows a claim earlier Thursday that it had shot down five aircraft and a helicopter as Russian forces attacked Ukraine.
In response, the Russian military earlier denied the claims, according to state news agency TASS.
Photos from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv are emerging of long lines of cars heading out of the city after Russia's attack early Thursday morning. Heavy traffic appears to be all moving west, away from where explosions were heard this morning, with few cars going east.
Earlier Thursday morning, CNN reporters heard explosions coming from the east of the city, in the direction of Boryspil International Airport.
Explosions have also been reported in other parts of Ukraine including Kharkiv and the port city Odessa.
Russia has attacked Ukraine in a “cunning way,” acting much the same as Hitler did in the Second World War, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised address Thursday as Russian forces enter the country from three sides.
Russia is on a “path of evil,” Prime Minister Zelensky said.
He called for “everyone who is able” to join the military to do so and called on all veterans to come forward.
Zelensky added that the Ukrainian military are engaged in “heavy fighting fending off attacks in Donbas in the east in the north and in the south.”
“The enemy has sustained heavy casualties and they will be even heavier ... they came to our land,” he warned.
From CNN's Brad Lendon
NATO member states Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have triggered NATO Article 4 to launch consultations within the alliance over Russia's attack on Ukraine.
“The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened,” Article 4 of The North Atlantic Treaty says.
According to the NATO website, consultation under Article 4 can lead to collective action among the 30 member states.
The website says Article 4 has been invoked six times previously since the alliance formed in 1949, most recently by Turkey in February 2020 after dozens of Turkish soldiers were killed by an attack by Syrian government forces in opposition-held areas of northern Syria.
Turkey has invoked Article 4 on four other occasions: once in 2015 to inform the alliance of its response to terrorist attacks in the country; twice in 2012 after a Turkish warplane was shot down in northern Syria and after Turkish civilians were killed by Syrian shelling; and in 2003 when it asked for alliance help to protect its population from any spillover from the war in neighboring Iraq.
On two of those occasions, NATO responded with military aid, sending Patriot missile batteries to protect against Syrian attacks in 2012 and sending aircraft and missile batteries to southeastern Turkey along the border with Iraq in 2003.
Poland invoked Article 4 in 2014 after previous Russian aggression in Ukraine, a meeting that resulted in further alliance efforts to stand together against any threats.
Article 4 is separate from Article 5, which is the alliance’s declaration that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all.
Analysis by Jill Dougherty
Before the crack of dawn, just before explosions began in cities across Ukraine, Russian state television unexpectedly broadcast an address by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two self-proclaimed "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk, in the breakaway Ukrainian region of Donbas, which he had officially recognized as independent less than two days before, had "turned to Russia with a request for help," he said. To answer that call he was launching a "special military operation." Its purpose: to "demilitarize" and "denazifiy" Ukraine.
Within minutes, Russian missiles began hitting targets in Ukraine. "Our actions are self-defense against threats," he told his fellow Russians, claiming Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukraine. "We do not plan to impose ourselves on anyone," he insisted.
Putin described the "special military operation" in limited terms, to protect people living in Donbas who, he claimed, had been subjected to "genocide," a charge that Ukraine has strenuously denied. But in the next breath, he lashed out more broadly: "NATO supports Ukrainian neo-Nazis ... our actions are self-defense against threats."
Then, in an extraordinary passage, he spoke directly to members of Ukraine's military, at that very moment in the crosshairs of the Russian military. Addressing them as "dear comrades," he told them they had taken an "oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people, and not to the anti-people junta that is robbing Ukraine and abuses those same people."
"Don't follow its criminal orders!" he demanded. "I urge you to lay down your weapons and go home."
As he has done so many times before, Putin claimed Russia had no choice but to defend itself. With a hard-edged tone in his voice, he seemed to threaten the US, Europe and NATO which, in just a few minutes, would witness his armed forces opening fire on Ukraine, something the Kremlin had consistently dismissed as western "hysterics."
"Whoever tries to interfere with us, and even more so, to create threats for our country, for our people, should know that Russia's response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences that you have never experienced in your history.
"We are ready for any development of events. All necessary decisions in this regard have been made."
Putin, who for years had criticized the West for ignoring his complaints about NATO's expansion toward Russia's borders, was finally striking back with fury. "I hope," he concluded his short address, "that I have been heard."
WATCH:
From CNN's Lizzy Yee in Hong Kong
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "brutal" and "unprovoked," while announcing new sanctions on 25 more individuals and four financial institutions.
“We denounce what are unilateral hostile actions in Ukraine. Russia is flagrantly breaching international law and the UN Charter. Russia has chosen war,” Morrison said, speaking to reporters in a press conference Thursday.
"Together with the international community, we are banding together in strong terms to condemn these outrageous acts in the strongest possible terms," Morrison said.
Morrison said the new sanctions would target army commanders, deputy defense ministers and Russian mercenaries "responsible for the unprovoked and unacceptable aggression," as well as businesses that had been involved in the development and sale of military technology and weapons.
On Wednesday, Australia announced sanctions on eight members of Russia's Security Council.
Morrison said there will be "further waves of sanctions" and that he was discussing with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on taking action against more than 300 members of Russian parliament.
"We must ensure there is a cost for this violent, unacceptable and egregious behavior…there always must be a cost for such reprehensible violence.”
“This is a chilling reminder of the world that we live in, and where the threats and aggression of bullies and those who seek to intimidate others to seek their own advantage ... is a reality," Morrison said.
Morrison said there were no plans for Australia to engage in military support for Ukraine and that their military support had not been requested from the government.
"We work closely with NATO and their member states. What we are doing is working with them in other ways," he said.
From CNN’s Joseph Ataman in Paris and Amy Cassidy
Russia's attack on Ukraine Thursday ranked among the "darkest hours for Europe" in nearly 80 years, according to the European Union's foreign policy chief.
These are among the darkest hours for Europe since the end of World War II,” EU High Representative Josep Borrell told reporters.
Borrell promised “urgent assistance to Ukraine,” as well as supporting evacuation efforts, including of EU staff.
EU sanctions: Speaking alongside EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Borrell said punitive measures from the 27-member bloc against Russia would be “the harshest packet of sanctions that has ever been implemented.”
Von der Leyen said she will present “massive and strategic” sanctions against Russia for approval later today.