Vladimir Putin launches ‘military operation’ in Ukraine as world condemns attack
ladimir Putin launched a “full-scale” invasion of Ukraine on Thursday sparking horror and revulsion from around the world.
Russian troops started attacking Ukraine from around 5am local time on multiple axes from Belarus in the north, Russia in the east and annexed Crimea in the south, according to Ukrainian border guards.
Loud explosions were heard by residents in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, believed to an an attack on on the outskirts, and other major cities.
Gunfire rattled near the main airport, the Interfax news agency said, and sirens were heard over the capital.
Explosions have also been heard in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, and in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv.
READ MOREMedia reported that military command centres in Kiev and Kharkiv had been struck by missiles while Russian troops had landed in Odessa and Mariupol.
However, amid the fog of war there were also claims that some attacks were fake news as part of a disinformation campaign.
As millions of people woke up in Europe to the threat of the biggest conflict since the Second World War, US president Joe Biden led outrage from around the globe, condemning Mr Putin for launching a “premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”.
He vowed to lead a united and decisive response by the United States and its allies, stressing: “The world will hold Russia accountable.”
Boris Johnson slammed Mr Putin for choosing “a path of bloodshed and destruction” with his attack on Ukraine.
The Prime Minister was chairing a meeting of Whitehall’s emergency COBRA committee at 7.30am this morning to discuss Britain’s response to the invasion.
Mr Johnson said he was “appalled by the horrific events” and that he had spoken to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss “next steps”.
Sanctions announced so far by the West, though, have been criticised for being too weak to deter Mr Putin.
The Kremlin has denied for weeks that an invasion was being planned.
But the Russian president announced the widespread military action during a televised address early on Thursday morning, claiming the move intended to protect civilians in Ukraine where there are two breakaway areas held by pro-Moscow separatists, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Mr Putin described it as “a special military operation” against Ukraine to eliminate what he called a serious threat, saying his aim was to demilitarise Russia’s southern neighbour.
He warned other countries that any effort to interfere with the Russian operation would lead to “consequences they have never seen”.
Within minutes, the first signs of war began to emerge and within hours unconfirmed reports of attacks were pouring in.
They include:
- Armoured vehicles from annexed Crimea were seen heading for Ukraine.
- Tanks were moving into Ukraine from Belarus, said the Ukrainian Interior Ministry.
- Russian planes were reported over Ukraine.
- Bombing At 08.36 in the Odessa region in the city of Podilsk Military Unit 0173 was reported to have left six dead, seven wounded and 19 missing.
- At 08.38 in the city of Mariupil, Donetsk region, one person was killed and two were injured in the shelling.
- In the city of Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, three strikes were reported on the depots of 17 tank BR, combat duty position 4608 Krasnopillya, UAV strike. The bridge over the Ingulets River was bombed.
- Footage from Russia’s Belgorod region shows a salvo of rocket launches towards Ukraine.
- Convoys of military equipment were seen travelling to the border with Ukraine from Armyansk to Krasnoperekopsk.
- Smoke is seen pouring from a military base targeted in the Ukrainian port Odessa.
- A video reportedly shows Russian forces in Kharkiv region in Ukraine.
- A cruise missile speeding across the sky in Mogilev region.
- A Smersh missile strike from a heavy multiple rocket launcher in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
- Russian military equipment, including armoured vehicles, breaching the state border in Chernihiv, Sumy, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions.
- Border patrols of Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr Oblast came under fire.
- A video shows Ukrainian military store is seen on fire in Vinnytsia.
- A cyclist hit in a strike in Uman, Cherkassy region, central Ukraine.
- The Kherson airfield was on fire.
- Major damage was reported at the Nikolayev airfield.
The Standard could not confirm the accuracy of these reports.
But Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, said that Russia has launched a “full-scale invasion of Ukraine”.
He stressed that Ukraine would defend itself against the Russian aggression “and will win”.
However, Mr Putin has amassed up to 190,000 Russian military personnel around Ukraine in advance of the invasion and the Russian fire power is far greater.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declared martial law, urging citizens not to panic as Russia launches military strikes.
The invasion sent the price of oil surging, with Brent breaching $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014, exacerbating concerns that a war in Europe could disrupt global energy supplies.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia’s attack on Ukraine was “the saddest moment” of his five-year tenure.
Mr Guterres urged the Russian president to withdraw his troops and added: “In the name of humanity do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century, with consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federation, but with an impact we cannot even foresee in relation to the consequences for the global economy.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country is considering sanctions against 300 members of the Russian parliament over the attack on Ukraine.
Mr Morrison also condemned Russia for the “brutal” and “unprovoked” attack, and said it should withdraw its troops.
The attack triggered a mass exodus of residents in Kiev, with huge tailbacks seen on major roads as people tried to flee the capital.
A British-Ukrainian student living in Kiev told how she woke up to the sounds of explosions on Thursday morning.
Valentina Butenko is studying politics at University College London, but returned to Ukraine a few weeks ago to offer help with the security crisis there.
“I woke up this morning to the sound of an explosion,” the 19-year-old, who has a British mother but was raised in Ukraine, told the PA news agency.
“I live on the outskirts of Kyiv so I expect it must have been pretty huge for me to hear it.
“Have been hearing explosions intermittently since 5am ... the sky has lit up a few times although it seems to have calmed down slightly now.”