More than 150 senior Russian officials have signed an open letter condemning Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine as 'an unprecedented atrocity' and warning of 'catastrophic consequences'.

The deputies said they were 'convinced' Russian citizens do not back the war and blamed Putin 'personally' for ordering troops into Ukraine in an attack 'for which there is no and cannot be justification'.

Putin in the early hours of today gave the order to attack, delivering an extraordinary address to the Russian nation in which he declared a 'special military operation' to 'de-militarise' and 'de-Nazify' Ukraine in what amounted to a outright declaration of war.

Missiles and bombs rained from the sky, tanks rolled across the border, troops parachuted down on eastern regions and explosions were seen across the country in the early hours and into the morning.

The letter urged Russians 'not to participate in the aggression' and called on citizens to speak out against the invasion because 'only massive popular condemnation can stop the war'.

Among the letter's signatories were Moscow deputies Elena Rusakova, Maxim Gongalsky, Andrey Morev, Elena Kotenochkina and Elena Filina as well as St Petersburg officials David Kuvaev and Polina Sizova and Veliky Novgorod deputy Anna Cherepanova.

It was a surprising step for Russian officials to speak out against Putin, who usually holds an iron grip on dissent and last week televised a meeting with Moscow's top security chiefs in which they appeared to be railroaded into backing his plans to invade Ukraine.

The letter, which described the signatories as those 'elected by the people', said they 'unreservedly condemn the attack of the Russian army on Ukraine'.

'This is an unprecedented atrocity for which there is no and cannot be justification. The decision to attack was made personally by Russian President Vladimir Putin. We are convinced that the citizens of Russia did not give him such a mandate.'

The letter warned of 'catastrophic consequences' - 'Thousands of people will die, be injured and maimed, cities dear to many Russians will be destroyed.'

It said Russia would face 'the condemnation of the world community' resulting in 'isolation, rising prices and poverty'.

'Hopes for a good life in Russia are crumbling before our eyes,' the letter added.

'We urge you not to participate in the aggression and not to approve of it. Please don't be silent: only massive popular condemnation can stop the war.'

It comes after heartbreaking images emerged from Ukraine showing bloodied civilians staggering through the streets of towns in the east of the country following Russian shelling in the early hours of today.

Other civilians were also injured and some others are believed to have died, though numbers of those hurt were not yet confirmed.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it was not targeting cities, but using precision weapons and claimed that 'there is no threat to civilian population.'

Yet Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv and Chernihiv in the east of Ukraine all reported coming under attack, with blasts also reported in the west - in Zhytomyr and Lviv, close to the border with Poland.

Meanwhile pro-Russian rebel forces pushed out from the occupied Donbass region, capturing two villages and appalling video from Uman, Cherkassy region, central Ukraine, showed the moment a shell hit a cyclists riding by.

Vicotex:

Putin is an elected president and he's far better than Buhari and his analogue in the white house

Nbotee:
Putin is jus a dictator who rules by fear... Opposition are crushed and silenced. The recent video of him and his foreign Minister was a clear evidence of how they are all afraid to go against his decisions

Nbotee:
Putin is jus a dictator who rules by fear... Opposition are crushed and silenced. The recent video of him and his foreign Minister was a clear evidence of how they are all afraid to go against his decisions