Russia-Ukraine war: Several casualties reported on both sides amid Moscow's offensive

Russia on Thursday launched a wide-range attack on Ukraine, targeting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into cars and trains to flee. The Ukrainian government on Thursday reported that 40 soldiers had been killed and dozens wounded so far. However, the actual number could be higher.

According to reports, 13 civilians and nine more troops have been killed in South Ukraine. Ukraine MP Sophia Fedyna, speaking to Republic, also noted that several troops have been killed in the offensive launched by Russia.

"A child was killed in the Ukrainian territory because of shelling. They have started attacking civilians as well," she said.

A Ukrainian military aircraft carrying 14 individuals crashed in the midst of a Russian assault. The aircraft crashed near Kyiv, according to a Tweet from the eastern European country's Ministry of External Affairs, killing 5 people. 

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant-General Valery Zaluzhny, in his first response informed that "Ukraine's Defense Forces are holding back the Russian aggressor's offensive." He said that in the Chernihiv region, four tanks of the occupiers were burned on the bypass road of Kharkiv.

"The forces of our troops returned the city of MARIUPOL and HAPPINESS to full control. At least 6 planes, 2 helicopters and dozens of enemy armoured vehicles were destroyed. About 50 Russian occupiers were killed in the Happiness area," Zaluzhny said.

Russia-Ukraine war

After President Vladamir Putin declared war on Ukraine, Russia has taken control of two villages in Eastern Ukraine. In a televised speech, Putin urged Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms and return home. He called the conflict between Russia and Ukraine "inevitable", adding that special military operation was aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine.

The assault began hours before dawn with a series of missile attacks against locations near the capital Kyiv, as well as the use of long-range artillery against the city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border. It quickly spread across central and eastern Ukraine as Russian forces attacked the country from three sides.