Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now

Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east.

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* Russian troops attacked Ukraine from Belarus as well as Russia with Belarusian support, and an attack was also being launched from annexed Crimea, Ukraine's border guard service said.

* Gunfire was heard near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Ukraine said Russia was shelling across the country all the way to the western Lviv region.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky approved a decree on martial law.

* US President Joe Biden condemned the unprovoked and unjustified attack in a call with Zelensky, and said he and other G7 leaders would meet to discuss sanctions.

* European Union leaders will discuss tough new sanctions on Russia on Thursday in reaction to its "barbaric attack" on Ukraine, the EU said.

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* Central European countries condemned Russia's attack and started preparations to receive potentially hundreds of thousands of people fleeing Ukraine.

* China called for all parties involved in the situation in Ukraine to exercise restraint and a foreign ministry rejected a foreign journalist's description of Russia's actions as an invasion.

* US President Joe Biden will meet with his G7 counterparts early Thursday to map out more severe measures against Russia after Putin launched what Biden called "a premeditated war" against Ukraine.

* European Union leaders will discuss a further sanctions package on Russia at an emergency meeting later on Thursday, the EU said in a statement.

* NATO ambassadors to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday