"I have decided on a special military operation". This is the opening words of the message from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin broadcast at 6 am in Moscow, shortly after 4 am Italian time. While in New York it was underway, for the second time in three days, a UN Security Council of which the Russian country is the current president, Putin's new message was broadcast in Russia, probably recorded last Monday.

"The possibility that Ukraine has tactical nuclear weapons constitutes a strategic threat to Russia", declared the Russian president, officially starting the invasion of the state in the heart of Eastern Europe "an integral part of Russian history", according to the premier.

The attack started from several fronts, with a large-scale pincer maneuver unlike what had been expected in recent days. Local media reported that Russian forces entered the country from both the Russian border and from Belarus and Crimea. Strong explosions were heard in major centers, from Kharkiv to Lviv to Mariupol and in the capital Kiev, on which missiles were launched targeting Ukrainian fighters in an airport outside Kiev but also hitting buildings and commercial structures.

"Cnn" citing some sources from the Ukrainian interior ministry had reported on "hundreds of victims" including wounded and dead: "Bbc" reported that at least seven people died and nine others were injured. According to "Bloomberg" Russia has used "high-precision weapons to destroy Ukrainian military infrastructure".

The Russian Defense Ministry then made it known that "Ukraine's air defenses have been suppressed". The armed forces of Kiev for their part claim to have shot down five Russian planes and a helicopter. Moscow denies. Russian warships patrol the waters off Odessa but the presence of troops in the city has been denied.