Explosions rocked Kharkiv City as Russia launched an attack on Ukraine early on Thursday morning. Footage taken in the northeastern municipality on February 24 at around 5am local time shows lights flashing in the distance as loud blasts echoed from the city's centre. Similar explosions were also reported in the country's capital, Kyiv, and other cities close to the border with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin this week announced a 'special military operation' in Ukraine's Donbas region. He said in a public address on Thursday: 'We decided to launch a special military action aimed at demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.' Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for peace, but added that Ukraine will defend itself from any invasion attempts. He said: 'If they attack, if they try to take our county - our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children - we will be defending ourselves.'