Journalists from CNN, CBS, ABC, and CNBC all reported hearing explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv just after 5:00 a.m. local time Thursday morning.
"I just heard a big bang right here behind me," CNN correspondent Matthew Chance said. "I probably shouldn't have done the live shot here. There are big explosions taking place in Kyiv right now." He said he heard "four or five" explosions but could not see them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a "special military operation" against Ukraine early Thursday. He announced the operation after the two eastern Ukrainian separatist republics he recognized on Monday asked for Russian help in "repelling the aggression of the Ukrainian armed forces."
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The Biden administration warned U.S. lawmakers earlier this month that if Russia invaded Ukraine, Kyiv could fall within 72 hours.
Kyiv is around 200 miles from the Russian border and less than 100 miles from Ukraine's border with Belarus, along which Russian troops have also been deployed.
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