Explosions were heard near the Ukrainian capital on Thursday morning after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in the neighbouring country.
LRT journalist Benas Gerdžiūnas, reporting from Kyiv, said sirens were blasting as columns of cars were forming outside petrol stations and along the main roads leading out of the city.
"I was woken up after 05:00 by muffled blows near the city centre, and a much louder sound was heard at 05:35,” he said.
People were flooding Kyiv's metro stations and queuing at ATMs to take out some cash, he said.
According to Gerdžiūnas, a west-bound road leading from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv was "clogged with cars".
Central Kyiv looked deserted on Thursday morning, according to the LRT reporter, as emergency sirens started sounding at about 07:00.
Metro workers initially told Gerdžiūnas that Kyiv's public transport network was fully operational. Some people could be seeking shelter in the stations rather than planning to leave.
"In all metro stations, as far as I've seen, there are dozens of people with suitcases, they are sitting, taking shelter, waiting," according to the LRT reporter. "Metro trains are crowded, there are first signs of panic, people with children are running, trying to squeeze into trains."
Sporadic troop presence could be seen in the central station of Kyiv, according to Gerdžiūnas. "I cannot confirm where they are going. [...] We can only guess that mobilisation continues. I can also say that the metro is so far functioning normally."
A little later, after 08:00, Gerdžiūnas informed that train services in Kyiv were halted.
Residents of Kyiv have been informed previously about the locations of bomb shelters, said Gerdžiūnas.
"I can see a police car at the station, telling people to hide. At the moment, everyone is moving toward the station," he said at around 08:00 Lithuanian and Ukrainian time.
At about 10:00, Gerdžiūnas said that some shops and cafes in Kyiv were opening.
"Inside, there are young people locked to their phones, talking to their relatives. Everyone in Kyiv, it seems, is now planning their next steps," he said.
According to Gerdžiūnas, police cars are seen patrolling the city. There are no signs of general panic.
"One person begins to run, someone else will follow and then the entire crowd rushes to a metro station, which is the closest shelter from air attacks. But that has been the only short fit of panic in the city which woke up to Russia's first attacks on targets in Ukraine," according to the LRT reporter.
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