Ukraine severs diplomatic ties with Russia amid invasion

• Ukraine cut diplomatic ties with Russia after Russia attacked Ukraine on Thursday.
• The foreign ministry said the step was taken after "acts of military aggression" by Russia.

Ukraine is cutting diplomatic ties with Russia, Ukraine's president announced Thursday, hours after Russia launched an attack.

Volodymyr Zelensky announced the decision at a press conference on Thursday.

Ukraine's foreign ministry said: "Our country took this step in response to acts of military aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the invasion of Russian Armed Forces to destroy the Ukrainian state and the seizure by force of Ukrainian territories with the intent of establishing occupation control."

Ukraine is evacuating its embassy in Moscow and also recalled its chargé d'affaires in Russia, the ministry said.

Ukraine is, however, keeping its consular functions and will "continue to defend the rights and interests of Ukrainians in Russia, including Ukrainian political prisoners," the ministry said.

Russia attacked Ukraine early Thursday morning in what Ukraine's foreign ministry called a "full-scale invasion."

The ministry said Russia was attacking multiple Ukrainian cities "from different directions."

Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict for years, but the situation became significantly more urgent in recent weeks.

Russia assembled vast numbers of troops around Ukraine — as many as 190,000, per US estimates — in the largest military operation in the region since World War II.

On Monday, Putin recognized the claims to independence of the breakaway Luhansk and Donetsk areas of Ukraine, where Russia has backed separatist fighters for years. Putin ordered troops there for what he described as "peacekeeping" efforts.

Less than 72 hours later, Putin authorized a full-scale attack on Ukraine.

Explosions have since pounded cities across Ukraine, many hundreds of miles from what was the previous conflict zone.

Ukrainian officials reported fighting on its borders with Russia, and dozens of casualties. The new wave of hostilities expanded the clash from a limited incursion over disputed land into the most serious armed conflict in Europe for at least a decade.

Insider's live blog of the invasion is covering developments as they happen.