More than 50 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians were killed and explosions were heard from Kyiv to Odessa and throughout the contested Donbas region as Russia launched a bloody invasion of neighboring Ukraine early Thursday, according to officials in the embattled capital.

The deaths, which reportedly included more than 40 soldiers and at least 10 civilians, were the first to occur after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” within Ukraine. It was not clear how or where the people died, though Russia claimed its troops met little or no resistance as they moved in.