CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance was forced to crouch down to put on a flak jacket and helmet as explosions suddenly rang out during his live cross from Kyiv late Wednesday night. “I tell you what, I just heard a big bang right here behind me,” a startled Chance said. “I told you we shouldn’t have done the live shot here. There are big explosions taking place in Kyiv right now. I can’t see where they’re taking place from this vantage point here on top of the roof of the hotel in central Kyiv. And I can’t explain what they are, but I heard four or five explosions a few moments ago.” Moments before, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an “special military operation” in the region of Donbas. The explosions Chance heard were later confirmed by Ukrainian authorities to be missiles.