Ukraine teacher credits ‘guardian angel’ for surviving Russian missile strike

A Ukrainian teacher whose injured visage became one of the early defining images of the Russian invasion credited her survival Thursday to a “very strong guardian angel” — as tens of thousands of residents fled their homes to try to escape the onslaught.

Olena Kurilo, 52, emerged from the hospital in Chuguev, outside the city of Kharkiv, covered in bandages after a missile strike sent shards of window glass flying into her face, the independent Moscow Times reported.

Russian armored columns pushed into Ukraine and airstrikes hit the country’s capital and dozens of other cities after President Vladimir Putin ordered an offensive that he said was aimed at toppling the government in Kyiv and demilitarizing the country.

Ukrainian officials said Russia had attacked on a wide front along the country’s frontiers from Belarus to the north, Russia to the east and Russian-controlled Crimea in the south. Video posted by Ukrainian authorities showed tanks and armored personnel vehicles streaming through a border checkpoint.

President Biden called Mr. Putin’s move an unprovoked, unjustified attack. In remarks delivered Thursday afternoon, Mr. Biden said the U.S. would impose new sanctions on Russian banks and elites in the country. The U.S. Treasury Department said it was sanctioning Russia's two largest banks, VTB and Sberbank.

NATO's secretary-general, meantime, described the Russian assault as “a brutal act of war” and said the military alliance had activated defense plans in response.