February 24, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The European Union will "make it as difficult as possible" for the Kremlin to pursue its "aggressive actions" in Ukraine, the chief of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen warned. 

Speaking in a joint press conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and European Council chief Charles Michel in Brussels, von der Leyen said the EU will "hold Russia accountable for this outrageous violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The EU chief said she had a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which he asked her for "whatever the different stakeholders can do for help."

The EU is set to unveil a further package of "massive" and "targeted" sanctions later Thursday, she said. 

The package will include "financial sanctions that harshly limit Russia's access to the capital markets" and "suppress Russia's economic growth," she explained. 

The second pillar of this package will limit Russia's access to "crucial technology," von der Leyen continued, in a bid to "cut off Russia's industry from the technologies desperately needed today to build a future."

"Our measures will weaken Russia's technological position in key areas, actually, from which the elite makes most of their money. And this ranges from high tech components to cutting edge software. This will also seriously degrade the Russian economy in all areas in the future," she said.

The Kremlin is aware that European unity "is our best strength," she said, adding that this is "why they have tried their best to divide us." 

"They have achieved the exact opposite. We are more united and more determined than ever," she concluded. 

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told CNN that a "full-fledged large-scale war has begun in Europe."

Podolyak said that Russian forces went on the offensive against the country from the north, east and south. "Our army repulses attacks, the enemy suffers significant losses," he added.

"The main thing now is to focus as much as possible on defending the country and preserving people's normal lives," Podolyak said.

"But Ukraine needs more support from the world and is very specific -- military-technical and financial support, tough sanctions against Russia. The West must act today.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he expects to discuss the possible deployment of Iskander and S-400 defense systems to Belarus with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the coming days.

“[Thursday or Friday] we will talk with the President of Russia about how to strengthen ourselves here in the western direction,” Lukashenko told state news agency Belta Thursday. 

“Today we consulted with the military, and we see that it would be desirable to put Iskanders [missile systems] there and place a battalion or two with S-400s somewhere so that we can actually monitor the situation all the way to Berlin,” Lukashenko said.

“Now the most powerful deterrent would be equipment: Iskanders and S-400 Triumphs. We can manage without them, but it would be nice. Then they would hardly go here,” Lukashenko added.

Belarus and Russia have close military ties, and Russian troops recently deployed to Belarus for extensive military drills. On Thursday, CNN witnessed -- through a livestream video -- troops atop a column of military vehicles entering Ukraine from a border crossing with Belarus.

French President Emmanuel Macron said that Russian’s aggression against Ukraine constituted “the most serious attack on peace, on stability in Europe for decades,” in a national address Thursday.

Unusually, Macron spoke in front of the flag of Ukraine, as well as the flags of the France and the European Union.

He began the address by saluting the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people. “Their liberty is our own," he said. 

"These events are a turning point in the history of Europe and our country. They will have lasting and far-reaching consequences on our lives, on the geopolitics of our continent."

"The sanctions imposed on Russia will be commensurate with the aggression of which it is guilty,” Macron said, adding that, “we will be without weakness."

He said that European sanctions will target Russia’s military, economy and energy sectors.

He said that he will speak before the French parliament tomorrow with further information on France’s response.

Britain and its allies will slap a “massive package of economic sanctions” on Moscow for invading Ukraine, “designed in time to hobble the Russian economy,” the UK's Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged in a televised address Thursday.   

Calling Vladimir Putin a “dictator,” Johnson condemned the Russian president for unleashing war on European continent.

Britain is joined in outrage by “friends and allies around the world,” he said, adding that the UK will work with them to “ensure that the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is restored.” 

He called the invasion an “act of wanton and reckless aggression,” and said it “not just on Ukraine” but on “democracy and freedom in east Europe and around the world.”

Johnson said he has spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to offer his continued support and said that new sanctions would be agreed on Thursday. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine are among the objectives of Russia's military action in the country, which he described as a "special operation."

“Ideally, Ukraine should be liberated, cleansed of Nazis, of pro-Nazi people and ideology,” Peskov said, though he refused to say if that meant regime change in Kyiv. 

This Russian claim of a need to "denazify" Ukraine is one Putin has touted repeatedly over the years and is entirely baseless.

Peskov also said the operation would end only when its objectives had been reached. 

Putin announced his decision to "conduct a special military operation" in a surprise address overnight. During that speech, he said it was "to protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years," restating a groundless claim about Ukraine's Russian-separatist-backed Donbas region.

The invasion began shortly after with a series of missile attacks against locations near Kyiv, as well as the use of long-range artillery against the northeastern city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is on the ground at the Ukraine-Russia border in the Belgorod region and reports more artillery rockets that appear to be fired from Russian territory into Ukraine.

"That's another salvo of what we believe is multiple artillery rocket launchers that have been going off here," Pleitgen said.

He is reporting from the last checkpoint before the frontline, on the Russian side, in the south of a town called Belgorod.

Watch the artillery rocket fired here:

International condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been swift and sharp, with several leaders also promising a new, harsher wave of sanctions on Moscow in the coming hours.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized Russia's military operation “in the strongest possible terms,” calling it a “reckless act by President Putin,” a “terrible day for Ukraine and a dark day for Europe.”

The European Union said: “We demand President Putin to cease Russian military operations immediately and unconditionally withdraw all forces and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine.”

It added that Russia “bears full responsibility for this act of aggression and all the destruction and loss of life it will cause.”

And French President Emmanuel Macron, who had emerged as a key broker in Europe's attempts to avert an invasion, wrote: “France stands in solidarity with Ukraine. It stands with Ukrainians and is working with its partners and allies to end the war.”

Elsewhere, Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said the country would provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine if needed, adding: "Israel has long experience in wars, and war is not the way to resolve conflicts.”

And in Taiwan, which has been closely watching events in Europe given the claims of China's Communist Party that the island is its territory, foreign ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou was quick to condemn Putin's move.

"Ukrainian cities like Kyiv has been attacked by gunfire, leading to fears of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine," she said. "We call on all sides to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and oppose the use of violence or coercion to change the status quo."

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said Thursday that three Russian helicopters were shot down in the Kyiv region. 

“One Russian helicopter K-52 and three helicopters near Gostomel were shot down in the Kyiv region, near Mezhyhirya,” the ministry said in a statement published on its website. 

Earlier Thursday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said six Russian planes had been shot down as forces attacked Ukraine. Russian military denied the claims, state news agency TASS reported.