Long lines of traffic form near Kiev station after Russia launches attack on Ukraine.

There were long lines of traffic on a road leading out of the Ukraine capital, hours after Russian troops launched their anticipated attack on Ukraine.

Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kiev, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of a military operation that could cause massive casualties, topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government and threaten the post-Cold War balance on the continent.