Making a pre-dawn speech on Thursday morning, President Vladimir Putin announced a Russian invasion of Ukraine after weeks of tensions.
Shortly after, and Russian troops and heavy weaponry entered the Eastern European state with Ukrainian cities bombed from the air.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to strongly resist the incursion, amid the full mobilisation of the armed forces for war.
Given the speed of developments, The New Arab is providing live updates of what's been happening on the ground and additional analysis on the conflict's significance.