Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced Thursday the imposition of a night curfew in the Ukrainian Capital with the aim of maintaining the safety of the population, hours after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, AFP reported.

"The curfew will extend from 10pm until 7am," he said in a statement, noting that public transportation will not operate during this period, but metro stations will remain open to be used as shelters in the event of military strikes.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, since the dawn of Thursday, Russia has launched an attack on Ukraine and carried out airstrikes in various parts of the country, including the capital, Kyiv, while ground forces entered from the north, east, and south of the country.

The Kremlin stressed that the military operation in Ukraine would continue as long as necessary, while the attack immediately sparked a wave of international condemnation, as NATO decided to hold an emergency summit on Friday.

For their part, the Russian defense announced that the Ukrainian forces are continuing their attack on residential areas in Donbass which has led to casualties among the residents of Lugansk and Donetsk.

Russia added that they have not attacked any cities or residential areas in Ukraine.

Notably, the Ukrainian President announced, “We have cut diplomatic ties with Russia.”

He added that Ukraine has many casualties as a result of the Russian bombing and country is being bombarded from north to south but he also said: “our army is strong and we all have to support it.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said that the crisis between Ukraine and Russia is a result of “provocations from NATO.”