This is the dramatic moment a huge fireball erupted when an airbase in Ukraine was hit by Russian forces.

The Vasylkiv Air Base in Kyiv Oblast was targeted with aerial bombardments as Russia launched air and ground strikes on Ukrainian military facilities on Thursday morning February 24.

Passenger Sonya was travelling in the car when the blast happened. She recorded the video on an iPhone 13 Pro with the metadata showing the blast happened at exactly 08:07 local time in Kyiv Oblast.

She said: ‘This was the bombardment of a military airfield by troops of the Russian Federation in the city of Vasilkov.’

Similar explosions happened in the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy, and the country’s capital Kyiv as well as other cities close to the border. Dozens of people are believed to have been killed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine’s Donbas region. He said in a public address on Thursday: ‘We decided to launch a special military action aimed at demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.’

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for peace but added that Ukraine will defend itself from any invasion attempts. He said: ‘If they attack, if they try to take our county – our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children – we will be defending ourselves.’

Ukraine said it had killed ‘around 50 Russian occupiers’ while the large-scale attack left at least 137 civilians and soldiers dead, and 316 more injured.

This is the dramatic moment a huge fireball erupted when an airbase in Ukraine was hit by Russian forces.

The Vasylkiv Air Base in Kyiv Oblast was targeted with aerial bombardments as Russia launched air and ground strikes on Ukrainian military facilities on Thursday morning February 24.

Passenger Sonya was travelling in the car when the blast happened. She recorded the video on an iPhone 13 Pro with the metadata showing the blast happened at exactly 08:07 local time in Kyiv Oblast.

She said: ‘This was the bombardment of a military airfield by troops of the Russian Federation in the city of Vasilkov.

'Right then when it happened I felt anxious and fearful of the imminent danger.'

Similar explosions happened in the cities of Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy, and the country’s capital Kyiv as well as other cities close to the border. Dozens of people are believed to have been killed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine’s Donbas region. He said in a public address on Thursday: ‘We decided to launch a special military action aimed at demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.’

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pleaded for peace but added that Ukraine will defend itself from any invasion attempts. He said: ‘If they attack, if they try to take our county – our freedom, our lives, the lives of our children – we will be defending ourselves.’

Ukraine said it had killed ‘around 50 Russian occupiers’ while the large-scale attack left at least 137 civilians and soldiers dead, and 316 more injured.