Kate Garraway ended what she described as an 'extraordinary and frightening' start to the day on Good Morning Britain after Russia invaded Ukraine.
In the early hours of Thursday UK time, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave an address to the nation in which he also warned countries who try to 'interfere' with his attack that they would "face consequences greater than any you have faced in history."
Within moments of his broadcast, explosions were heard in cities across Ukraine, including capital Kyiv, as terrified citizens clamoured to leave, with roads jam packed full of cars carrying large groups of people.
READ MORE: Russia Ukraine war as Putin launches full-scale invasion
Thursday's Good Morning Britain was dominated by the chilling events developing in eastern Europe, with Kate and co-host Ben Shephard interviewing Foreign Minister James Cleverly and crossing live to the Ukraine to speak to GMB's Chief Correspondent, Richard Gaisford.
Richard had been giving live updates on his own Twitter account prior to appearing on the show, with him posting a video of gridlocked roads, along with the caption: "British Ambassador advises Brits to leave Ukraine. Not so easy in Kyiv, with heavy traffic now on roads to the west."
The final interview of the day saw Kate and Ben speak to UK based student Valentina Butenko, who is visiting family in Ukraine, who told them she'd be woken by "a series of explosions."
She said: "It's definitely been an incredibly scary morning. And even though there has been expectations of military escalation, that is not exactly the same as something happening so rapidly and unexpectedly."
After Ben told Valentina to "stay safe," adding that he hoped they could keep in contact with her, Kate brought the programme to a close by saying: "What an extraordinary and frightening morning.
"Apparently war in Europe in a democratic country and we're watching it unfold."
She added: "There'll be more update of course on ITV News throughout the morning," before handing over to ITV colleague Lorraine Kelly, who remarked: "We need uplifted," before teasing what was coming up on her show.
She also started her show by crossing live to Richard, saying: "people in Ukraine must be so scared."
