How much do the Russian people know about their country's invasion of Ukraine?

Those watching Russian state television are seeing little to no footage of the explosions in Kyiv as troops continue their advance on Ukraine.

Instead, the conflict is being portrayed as a campaign to "liberate" Ukraine with coverage focused around the protection of Donbas.

Donbas is the southeastern region of Ukraine where a lot of the conflict is centered around.

In fact, Russian state television is claiming the region is being attacked by Kyiv.

State news has been showing President Vladimir Putin's narrative on the invasion since he addressed the nation early on Thursday morning, claiming to protect citizens in Donbas.

Indeed, a Russian broadcast regulator has approached ten media outlets for using the word "invasion" instead of "military special operations" - highlighting how much the Kremlin is controlling the narrative of coverage in Russia..

Russia state TV is the main source of news for many in the country, as ITV News Correspondent Neil Connery explains

There are unconfirmed claims that Russian state TV has been hacked by Anonymous in an attempt to "broadcast the truth" about what is happening in Ukraine.

Anonymous are a renowned international hacker group who claim responsibility for website outages and cyber attacks.

Multiple news websites were reported to be offline, and TV channels were reportedly showing footage from the conflict.

Posts on Twitter purported to show the takeover of Russian state TV, with other hacker accounts claiming they had successfully broadcast Ukraine's national anthem over the channel.

These claims have not been verified.

Twitter users in Russia have reported various social media outages, according to a Russian website which monitors the blocking of websites and internet outages.

Downdetector also said that Facebook is down for some Russian users, mainly in the nation's biggest cities.

This follows Russian authorities announcing the “partial restriction” of Facebook and the nation's communications agency, Roskomnadzor, accusing the platform of violating "the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens".

Protests have been taking place in Russia since Thursday, condemning Putin of his actions.

Human rights groups said that hundreds of protesters had been detained in Moscow and St Petersburg over holding pickets against the war.

Further reports suggest the Kremlin will move to censor independent outlets who are reporting on the conflict.

How can I read more about what's going on and the background to the conflict?

ITV News has extensive coverage, including analysis from our correspondents, and explainers on the background to the conflict:

Why has Russia invaded Ukraine and can Putin be stopped? Our experts tell you what you need to know in our latest podcast. Listen here: