Ukraine conflict: What we know about the invasion

"A frank and constructive dialogue is expected to improve relations between states," the Ukrainian president's office said on its official channel on the Telegram messaging app alongside a photo of Mr Szijjarto, Mr Kuleba and Mr Yermak. Mr Szijarto will be in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak. This could see states like Poland and the Baltics decide to aid Ukraine on their own, which "might leave NATO's eastern front vulnerable and cause a crisis within the EU and European NATO". European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO.

• Far from crippling the entire national infrastructure, the worst they are known to have done is briefly disrupt power and mobile phone networks.
• There are reports of attacks on Ukrainian military infrastructure across the country, and Russian convoys entering from all directions.
• US President Joe Biden said Mr Putin had "chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering".
• In extremis, a wartime government could inter anyone deemed a threat to public order or the war effort.
• It seemed to me that all this was not real and could not last long.

Polls have suggested that even though they are the least likely to support the invasion, many still back it. Finding out what young Russians really think about the war in Ukraine is not easy. The most popular responses, a third of all telegrams, were expressions of sympathy, support and "calls to be patient until Russia releases them," and a "reminder of the brotherhood of the two peoples." Koneva said initially, when Russians heard about the damage and losses suffered by Ukrainians, Russian people looked more critically at the reason the Ukrainians were suffering. Galina Zapryanova, senior regional editor for the Gallup World Poll, told VOA that polling in Russia " has indeed become more challenging since 2022, but it is not impossible."

We will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for this purpose. For more information please see our terms of service and privacy policy. But many in Russia would be taken by surprise if war was to start soon. In Russia, state-run newspapers and media outlets blame the West for aggression, mirroring the Kremlin's language.

Koneva said her research group has focused on examining the opinions of the core audience that supports Russia’s war in Ukraine. To put it simply, before launching an offensive, it’s worth thinking about who will fight in that offensive and how willingly, and to what extent an active conflict will prompt people to rally around Putin. The evidence suggests that even in the best-case scenario, the mobilization effect will be nonexistent. But 66 percent of Russians aged between 18 and 24 have a positive or very positive attitude toward Ukraine. That’s despite a backdrop of unceasing vitriol directed toward Ukraine on state television, and the persistent, oft-repeated idea that it is external attacks that require Russia to take defensive measures.

Television footage has showed people praying in the streets. In Kyiv there are huge jams on expressways as people flee the city. Much of the fighting appears to be centred around the east of the country. But clashes have also been taking place around Kyiv and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol. Russia said it has destroyed more than 70 military targets in Ukraine. But later on Thursday President Zelensky said Ukraine had suffered losses and a lot of aircraft and armoured vehicles had been destroyed.

Do Ukrainians and Russians believe a full-scale war is possible?

A large diversion of citizens to military duty would leave gaps in the workforce to be filled, be it guarding food warehouses or building trenches and bomb shelters. Retired members of essential professions – doctors, nurses, morticians, police – would be urged back into service. As in Ukraine, office techies could be in demand to operate drones on the front lines and to fend off cyberattacks. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been serving prison time since 2021 after leading street protests and starting a nationwide opposition movement, was recently moved to a penal colony in Russia's far north. Earlier today, a Russian official said air defences had thwarted a drone attack on the Slavneft-YANOS oil refinery in the city of Yaroslavl.