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HARROWING pictures show innocent Ukrainians fleeing their country as Vladimir Putin’s tanks rolled into the besieged nation.

Thousands are heading west or taking shelter in metro stations as explosions hit the capital Kyiv and other major cities early on Thursday morning.

Traffic jams hit Kyiv as thousands tried to flee the cityCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Desperate Ukrainians rushed to metro stations amid the conflictCredit: AFP

A woman and child peer out a bus window as they leave eastern UkraineCredit: AP

Couples hugged outside metro stations in KyivCredit: AFP

Motorists tried to leave Kyiv but were met with gridlocked highwaysCredit: Reuters

Ukrainians packed their cars with their belongings before leavingCredit: AP

Kyiv was rocked by several explosions as dramatic footage showed smoke rising from buildings and loud blasts echoed around the city.

Terrified families took shelter inside subway stations while long queues were seen on platforms.

Couples were sat on their floor with their luggage as they searched for information on their cell phones.

Footage that has been watched more than 25,000 times online shows stranded motorists trying to leave Kyiv as air raid sirens were tested.

Hundreds have been pictured at Kharkiv-Pasazhyrsky train station standing in long lines waiting to buy tickets.

Residents rushed to gas stations as they tried to head out of Kyiv but were met with gridlocked highways.

Pictures show lines of cars queuing at a gas station in Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk – one of the provinces that Putin declared “independent” earlier this week - with some Ukrainians stopping at ATMs beforehand.

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Luggage trolleys were strewn across bridges at Kyiv airport as desperate locals tried to escape.

While some tried to flee the city, commuters were seen traveling to work even as air raid sirens blared.

Dozens of Ukrainians were also seen waiting in lines at pharmacies across the capital after residents were urged to stay home.

Families boarded buses in Donetsk to evacuate the war-torn region amid the escalating conflict.

captured the moment a group of people kneeled to pray in Kharkiv's main square.

In the clip, she said: "Right now there is truly a sense of having no idea what is coming down the pipeline, what is in store for the people of Ukraine in the coming hours and the coming days. And it's freezing cold here.

"I think it speaks to the state of ordinary Ukrainians here who have absolutely done nothing to deserve this, who have no quarrel with Russia."

A salvo of missiles and airstrikes hit Ukraine as Putin launched his long-feared full-scale assault, sparking outrage around the world.

The strongman claimed the attack was needed to protect those living in eastern Ukraine.

Around 200,000 Russian troops were ready to move in as they were stationed in the north, south, and east of Ukraine.

Hundreds are already feared to have been killed and the death toll could rise in the hundreds of thousands, with millions displaced.

A boy has been killed after an apartment building was shelled in Kharkiv.

The Russian military claims it has successfully targeted Ukrainian airbases, alleging it has "knocked out" the country's air defenses.

Tanks have allegedly been seen on the ring road in Kharkiv and moved into Mariupol

PUTIN'S FORCES ROLL IN

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law and urged his people to stay home.

He claimed that Moscow has suffered serious losses.

He rejected Moscow’s claims that Ukraine posed a threat to Russia and made an emotional plea for peace to the people of Russia.

“You are being told that this is a plan to free the people of Ukraine,” he said while speaking in Russian. “But the Ukrainian people are free.”

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba branded Russia's actions as a "war of aggression".

He said: "Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”

And, Ukraine's ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya has told his Russian counterpart: "There is no purgatory for war criminals.

"They go straight to hell."

Biden said in a statement: "President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.

"Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable."

The president added that there will be “further consequences” imposed on Russia and is to issue an address in the early afternoon tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson said he was left "appalled" by the events in Ukraine.

He said: "President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine.

"The UK and our allies will respond decisively."

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said: "These are the among the darkest hours for Europe since World War Two."

He warned that Brussels will impose the hardest sanctions it has ever imposed.

Putin has warned any foreign powers that intervene face "untold consequences.

Even as explosions were heard across the nation, Russia's defense ministry denied "missile, air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine."

But they confirmed military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, and aviation of the Ukrainian army were being disabled by precision weapons.