Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia launches attacks across Ukraine; Biden vows ‘consequences’

MOSCOW — Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed Thursday that videos of civilian casualties in Ukraine during Russian attacks were “staged.”

“Their goal is to accuse Russia of supposedly indiscriminate and disproportionate strikes to intimidate the civilian population and broadcast on Western television channels,” Konashenkov said.

Russia’s military has a history of indiscriminate military strikes on civilian areas, notably in the 1994-96 war against Chechnya, when the military bombed the region’s capital, Grozny, and many towns and villages, causing massive casualties.

In the Syrian civil war, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group based in Britain, reported that Russian airstrikes caused thousands of civilian casualties after Russian President Vladimir Putin intervened in 2015 at the request of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Russia’s military claimed Thursday that it was targeting military infrastructure, not civilians.

Global markets tumbled steeply Thursday as Russia launched a military assault on Ukraine, with investors bracing for a period of turmoil and energy-related disruptions.

Most major Asian stock indexes fell about 3 percent, and markets in Europe dropped at similar levels in the early hours. For many indexes, it was the sharpest decline since late last year, when the omicron coronavirus variant sparked fears of another dark phase in the pandemic. In the United States, Dow futures sank more than 700 points.

Though the Russian incursion is just beginning, signals early Thursday — including strikes across Ukraine — suggested a wide-ranging offensive that would trigger deep sanctions from the United States and European Union that would hurt not just the Russian economy, but also their own.

MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny used a court hearing Thursday to condemn President Vladimir Putin and the country’s ruling class for their assault on Ukraine.

Navalny appeared via video link in court on charges of fraud, in one of several cases against him, after he was nearly fatally poisoned with a chemical weapon in 2020 and jailed in 2021 upon returning to Russia following medical treatment in Germany. His political organization was banned as extremist last year under a sweeping crackdown on political dissent launched by Putin. He calls all charges against him politically motivated.

“I have no method of communicating with the outside world,” Navalny said at the Lefortovo District Court hearing. “I ask that my appeal to the court and to the world be recorded.

“I am against this war,” he said. “I believe that this war between Russia and Ukraine is being waged to cover up the robbery of Russian citizens and to distract their attention from the problems that exist within the country, from the degradation of the economy.”

He said the war would lead to a huge number of casualties and ruin lives. Navalny added that “this group that has now seized power” is waging war to cling to the spoils of office.

On Tuesday, Navalny lambasted the Russian Security Council for its Monday meeting, which paved the way for the assault when members called on Putin to recognize two breakaway eastern regions of Ukraine as independent states. He called it a “gathering of dotards and thieves,” comparing them with the Soviet Union’s Politburo when it sent troops into Afghanistan. The Twitter thread in English was posted by members of his team.

The Russian leader, he said, was like a drunk grandfather at a family celebration. “It would be funny if the drunk grandfather was not a man of 69 who holds power in a country with nuclear weapons.”

KHARKIV, Ukraine — After the early-morning sounds of explosions on the city’s outskirts, Kharkiv residents, until now skeptical of Western claims that a Russian attack would come to their homes, turned to the tasks they had been putting off.

Lines at gas stations were more than 10 cars back. People walked through the city with suitcases and grocery bags, stocking up on essential goods. Though the local government urged people to stay home and closed schools and offices, many went straight for an ATM.

One young woman who was waiting in line for gas downtown said her apartment window was blown out by the blast.

“My boyfriend had called me right before that and said, ‘You need to get up, the war has started,’ ” said 18-year-old Kristina Nimenko. “Now we’ve come to get gas just to be ready for everything.”

“We just want peace,” she added.

For Agniia and Emile Nkoyok and their 5-month-old daughter, the booming outside their window prompted them to head into town and look to take cover in the subway system. But they saw no one else hiding there, so they walked their bulldog and tried to gauge how others were reacting.

“I’m upset that the government is saying nothing,” Emile said. Agniia and her daughter, Emily Grace, planned to fly on Friday morning but are unsure of what they’ll do now that airspace is closed.

Nimenko said she plans to meet family Thursday to discuss plans, but, “in any case, we will stay in Ukraine.”

“We will stay at home because we are from Ukraine,” she said.

BRUSSELS — The European Union will hit Russia with tough new sanctions for its “barbaric attack” on Ukraine, officials said Thursday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for “bringing war back to Europe” and that the bloc will convene Thursday to work on fresh measures to hold him accountable. “With this package, we will target strategic sectors of the Russian economy by blocking their access to key technologies and markets,” she said. “We will weaken Russia’s economic base and its capacity to modernise.”

“In addition, we will freeze Russian assets in the EU and stop the access of Russian banks to the European financial market.”

The potential new sanctions, which she termed “massive,” follow an initial round of penalties announced Tuesday that targeted Kremlin officials, lawmakers, banks and also restricted Russian access to E.U. financial and capital markets.

“We will not allow President Putin to replace the rule of law with the rule of force and ruthlessness,” said von der Leyen. “He should not underestimate the resolve and strength of our democracies.”

MOSCOW — As Moscow launched massive airstrikes on Ukraine early Thursday, Russia’s military said its armed forces were targeting military infrastructure.

The military said the civilian population and members of the military who surrendered were not being targeted, claims for which it offered no evidence.

The military made its first statement after President Vladimir Putin’s early-morning address announcing the assault, claiming that Ukraine was a threat to Russia.

“High-precision weapons disable only military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, aviation of the armed forces of Ukraine,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Russia made similar claims during its 1994-96 military operation in Chechnya when it bombed cities and villages to quash a separatist uprising.

Also on Thursday, a Russian-backed militia leader in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic claimed to have taken control of two Ukrainian villages, Viktorivka and Bohdanivka, south of Donetsk.

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday night that Russia has brought the world “to the brink of a conflict that will produce an untold amount of human suffering," as leaders gathered for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said officials believe a “full-scale further invasion into Ukraine by Russia is imminent," with Russia closing airspace and moving its forces into “combat ready positions.” She also described reports of malware “placed on hundreds of computers and executed on at least some."

“This is a perilous moment,” she said. “And we are here for one reason, and one reason only. To ask Russia to stop. Return to your borders." She joined other countries in condemning Russia’s actions and said its diplomats have “laughed in the face" of human suffering.

Earlier, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he had never believed rumors of an imminent attack on Ukraine, “convinced that nothing serious would happen.”

“I was wrong,” he said.

He acknowledged that “an operation is being prepared" and addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, looking into the camera.

“From the bottom of my heart, President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine," Guterres said. "Give peace a chance. Too many have already died.”

The Security Council has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.