- A Ukrainian presidential advisor called on the West to swiftly take action to punish Russia.
- "The West must act today," Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told CNN.
- He added, "Russia is attacking not just Ukraine, but all the rules of normal life in the modern world."
A Ukrainian presidential advisor called on the West to swiftly take action to punish Russia on Thursday after Moscow launched a military attack on Ukraine.
"Russia is attacking not just Ukraine, but all the rules of normal life in the modern world," Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN.
"What will be left of the security system on the continent? Zero," Podolyak said.
Podolyak said that a "full-fledged large-scale war has begun in Europe" after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine from multiple directions early Thursday.
"The main thing now is to focus as much as possible on defending the country and preserving people's normal lives," Podolyak told CNN.
He added, "But Ukraine needs more support from the world and is very specific — military-technical and financial support, tough sanctions against Russia. The West must act today."
The United States, United Kingdom, and the European Union have already sanctioned Russia over its aggression in Ukraine with warnings of more sanctions to come.
Russia's conflict with Ukraine has been rumbling for years, but escalated dramatically in recent weeks.
Russia assembled vast numbers of troops around Ukraine — as many as 190,000, according to US estimates — in the largest military operation in the region since World War II.
Putin on Monday recognized the independence of Luhansk and Donetsk, two Moscow-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, and ordered troops there for what he described as a limited peace-keeping operation in the east of the country.
Less than 72 hours later, Putin authorized a full-scale attack on Ukraine.
In the hours that followed, explosions pounded cities around Ukraine, many hundreds of miles from 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.