Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed martial law and urged his people to stay home and not panic after warmonger Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Russia’s neighbour, plunging Europe into its worst military crisis in decades.
In a video message published shortly after the Kremlin began its attacks across Ukraine, Zelenskyy said Russia had carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards, and that explosions had been heard in many cities.
The Ukrainian President also said he had spoken by telephone to US President Joe Biden following reports of a Russian invasion of the country.
He pleaded: ‘Dear Ukrainian citizens, this morning President Putin announced a special military operation in Donbas. Russia conducted strikes on our military infrastructure and our border guards. There were blasts heard in many cities of Ukraine. We’re introducing martial law on the whole territory of our country.
‘A minute ago I had a conversation with President Biden. The US have already started uniting international support. Today each of you should keep calm. Stay at home if you can. We are working. The Army is working. The whole sector of defence and security is working. No panic. We are strong. We are ready for everything. We will win over everybody because we are Ukraine.’
Zelenskyy had previously vowed that the country would ‘fight back’ in the event of a Russian assault after Moscow-backed separatists in the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk yesterday asked for military assistance from the Kremlin.
He said in an emotional television address: ‘The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace. But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.’
Zelenskyy insisted that he had tried to call Putin last night before the Russian invasion, but there was ‘no answer, only silence’. In an apparent reference to Putin’s move to authorize the deployment of the Russian military to ‘maintain peace’ in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky warned that ‘this step could mark the start of a big war on the European continent’.
‘Any provocation, any spark could trigger a blaze that will destroy everything,’ he said.
He challenged the Russian propaganda claims, saying that ‘you are told that this blaze will bring freedom to the people of Ukraine, but the Ukrainian people are free’.
Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast on Thursday, after Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east.
Shortly after Putin spoke in a televised address on Russian state TV, explosions could be heard in the pre-dawn quiet of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Gunfire rattled near the capital’s main airport, the Interfax news agency said, and sirens were heard over the city.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter: ‘Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.’
Biden condemned Russia’s aggression and promised ‘severe sanctions’ on Moscow, saying his prayers were with the people of Ukraine ‘as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack’. The US President added he will be meeting with the leaders of the G7.
Russia has demanded an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and Putin repeated his position that Ukrainian membership of the US-led Atlantic military alliance was unacceptable. He said he had authorised military action after Russia had been left with no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats emanating from Ukraine, a democratic state of 44million people.
‘Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine,’ the Russian strongman said. ‘All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine.’
The developments came as:
- Explosions were heard across Ukraine, with Kiev coming under attack and the city’s main airport appearing to be a target, as well as a nearby military base;
- Reports said the port city of Odessa was coming under amphibious assault, while another Black Sea port city, Mariupol, was under fierce attack;
- Military assaults appeared underway on Kharkov in the far east of Ukraine;
- Russia insisted in the early hours of Thursday that it was targeting military installations and avoiding populated areas, but Ukraine said there had been hundreds of casualties;
- World leaders united in condemning Putin in the early hours of the morning after Russian forces swarmed into Ukraine;
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed the aggression not seen since the Second World War as an ‘unjustified and flagrant breach of international law’ and said Berlin would consult its partners in the G7, NATO and the EU;
- French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: ‘To the Ukrainian people, to President Zelensky, this evening, I reiterate our support, our attachment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine’;
- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg denounced Russia’s ‘reckless and unprovoked attack’ on its neighbour, warning the invasion put ‘countless’ lives in jeopardy;
- The European Union said it will hold Russia ‘accountable’ for its attack on Ukraine and is preparing fresh sanctions that will deal ‘massive and severe consequences’ to Moscow;
- Boris Johnson today declared that Russia has ‘chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction’ in Ukraine after launching ‘horrific attacks’ on its neighbour;
- Johnson will set out a suite of super-sanctions to damage the Russian economy, its businesses and its oligarchs;
- Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine urged UK nationals to leave Ukraine immediately;
- The UK Foreign Office has said people should not attempt to cross from Russia into Ukraine;
- Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he has instructed the UK Civil Aviation Authority to ensure airlines avoid Ukraine airspace ‘to keep passengers and crew safe’.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed martial law and urged his people to stay home and not panic
People take shelter in a subway station in Kiev, after Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine
Inhabitants of Kiev leave the city following pre-offensive missile strikes of the Russian armed forces and Belarus
People, some carrying bags and suitcases, walk in a metro station in Kiev early on February 24, 2022
People take shelter in a subway station in Kiev, after Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine
Vladimir Putin is pictured in the early hours of Thursday morning declaring war on Ukraine
People, some carrying bags and suitcases, walk at a metro station in Kyiv early on February 24
People queue at an ATM in Mariupol after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine
Residents were seen traveling to work even as air raid sirens were heard
An explosion lights up the night sky over Kiev in the early hours of Thursday, as Russia launched an all-out attack on Ukraine from north, south and east with bombs, cruise missiles and rockets raining from the skies
Tanks move into the city, after Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Mariupol, February 24, 2022
Smoke rises over Chuhuiv military airfield in eastern Ukraine after a Russian airstrike aimed at taking out the air force
Putin has recognised two areas in eastern Ukraine as independent and authorised Russian troops to go in on ‘peacekeeping’ missions. Rebels already hold part of that territory (in red) but Putin has recognised a much-wider region (yellow) amid fears he will now try to seize it. There are also fears he is preparing to attack Kharkiv in Ukraine (green) after massing forces nearby
Russia has up to 190,000 troops backed by tanks, artillery, fighter jets and bombers surrounding Ukraine from three sides, as the US warns of a full-scale invasion of the whole country including an attack on the capital, Kiev
The full scope of the Russian military operation was not immediately clear but Putin said: ‘Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything by force.’
Speaking as the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York, Putin said he had ordered Russian forces to protect the people and appealed to the Ukrainian military to lay down their arms.
Three hours after Putin gave his order, Russia’s defence ministry said it had taken out military infrastructure at Ukrainian air bases and degraded its air defences, Russian media reported.
Earlier, Ukrainian media reported that military command centres in Kiev and the city of Kharkov in the northeast had been struck by missiles while Russian troops had landed in the southern port cities of Odessa and Mariupol.
A Reuters witness later heard three loud blasts in Mariupol.
Russian-backed separatists said they had launched an offensive on the Ukrainian-controlled town of Shchastia in the east, Russia’s Interfax news agency said, and explosions also rocked the breakaway eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
Hours earlier, the separatists issued a plea to Moscow for help to stop alleged Ukrainian aggression – claims the United States dismissed as Russian propaganda.
The consequences of the conflict and resulting sanctions on Russia could reverberate throughout the world, upending geopolitical dynamics in Europe as well as affecting energy supplies in Europe and jolting global financial markets.
Asian stock markets plunged and oil prices surged as the attack began. Earlier, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1.8 per cent to an eight-month low after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine asked for military assistance.
Global stocks and US bond yields dived, while the dollar and gold rocketed higher after Putin’s address. Brent oil surged past $100/barrel for the first time since 2014.
Anticipating international condemnation and countermeasures, Putin issued a stark warning to other countries not to meddle, saying, ‘whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to the consequences you have never seen in history’.
Putin urged Ukrainian servicemen to ‘immediately put down arms and go home’.
In a stark reminder of Russia’s nuclear power, Putin warned that ‘no one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to the destruction and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor’. He emphasised that Russia is ‘one of the most potent nuclear powers and also has a certain edge in a range of state-of-the-art weapons’.
Though the US on Tuesday announced the repositioning of forces around the Baltics, Biden has said he will not send in troops to fight Russia.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called by Ukraine because of the imminent threat of a Russian invasion, members still unaware of Putin’s announcement appealed to him to stop an attack. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting, just before the announcement, telling Putin: ‘Stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died.’
NATO Secretary-General Jen Stoltenberg issued a statement condemning ‘Russia’s reckless and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which puts at risk countless civilian lives. Once again, despite our repeated warnings and tireless efforts to engage in diplomacy, Russia has chosen the path of aggression against a sovereign and independent country.’
Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, tweeted early on Thursday: ‘I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine and I have spoken to President Zelenskyy to discuss next steps. President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The UK and our allies will respond decisively.’
The British foreign secretary Liz Truss tweeted her condemnation of the attack just after 4am local time.
‘I strongly condemn the appalling, unprovoked attack President Putin has launched on the people of Ukraine,’ she said. ‘We stand with Ukraine and we will work with our international partners to respond to this terrible act of aggression.’
European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to hold the Kremlin accountable. ‘In these dark hours, our thoughts are with Ukraine and the innocent women, men and children as they face this unprovoked attack and fear for their lives,’ they said on Twitter.
Even before Putin’s announcement, dozens of nations imposed sanctions on Russia, further squeezing Russian oligarchs and banks out of international markets.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has shrugged off the sanctions, saying that ‘Russia has proven that, with all the costs of the sanctions, it is able to minimize the damage’.
The threat of war has already shredded Ukraine’s economy and raised the specter of massive casualties, energy shortages across Europe and global economic chaos.
Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights citing a high risk to safety, while Europe’s aviation regulator warned against the hazards to flying in bordering areas of Russia and Belarus.
Russia suspended domestic flights at airports near its border with Ukraine until March 2, its aviation agency said.
Shelling had intensified since Monday when Putin recognised two separatist regions as independent and ordered the deployment of what he called peacekeepers, a move the West called the start of an invasion.
Western countries and Japan imposed sanctions on Russian banks and individuals but held off their toughest measures until an invasion began.
The United States stepped up the pressure on Wednesday by imposing penalties on the Russian firm building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its corporate officers.
Germany on Tuesday froze approvals for the pipeline, which has been built but was not in operation, amid concern it could allow Moscow to weaponise energy supplies to Europe.
‘Hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops were killed in early fighting, Kiev said, as the fight came to them on all fronts at a moment’s notice. Cruise missiles, guided bombs and GRAD rockets took out targets around the country – aimed at airfields, military bases, ammo dumps, and command posts.
Five Russian jets were reportedly shot out of the sky over the Donbass before Moscow claimed to have taken control of the skies.
Ukrainian border guards said they had come under attack by heavy artillery, tanks and troops from Russian and Belarus – as dictator Alexander Lukashenko threw his forces into the fight.
Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkov and Chernihiv in the east of the country all reported coming under attack, but blasts were also reported in the west – in Zhytomyr and Lviv, close to the border with Poland.
Extraordinary video footage showed what appeared to be a cruise missile slamming into Ivano-Frankivsk airport, also in the west.
A man named Alexander (right) reassures his son as the family takes refuge in a metro station in Kiev
Some cars were seen driving to the city’s exits after Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine
A huge explosion lights up the night sky in Sumy, eastern Ukraine, after a Russian airstrike hit what appears to be an ammo dump, while smoke and flames are also seen rising over Kherson, in the south near Crimea
Military vehicles are seen on a street on the outskirts of the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, February 23, 2022
Explosions are seen in the early hours of Thursday in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine
Boris Johnson today declared that Putin has ‘chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction’ in Ukraine after launching a ‘horrific attacks’ on its neighbour
Smoke can be seen after an airstrike or artillery fire near the Ukraine Belarus border while tank columns entered Ukraine from Belarus this morning
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she condemns Russia´s `appalling, unprovoked attack´ on Ukraine, which has already caused injuries and deaths as missiles hit the country
Ms Truss has insisted ‘nothing is off the table’ if Russia attacks, which it did today
But as Russian bombs fell, people’s nerve broke. Images from Kiev in the early hours showed highways out of the city gridlocked as people tried to flee – but with the whole country under simultaneous attack, there was little safety to be found.
Others reported sheltering in subways and basements as air-raid sirens wailed. Unconfirmed reports said that Russian forces had destroyed or rendered unusable the Ukrainian navy, and taken control of Boryspil Airport in Kiev. Access to the Black Sea and Azov Sea was cut off.
More unconfirmed reports on Twitter appeared to show a huge seaborne landing by Russian forces in the Black Sea port of Odessa, involving large landing craft and helicopters shortly before 6am local time.
Putin in his speech on Thursday told other countries not to get involved. ‘To anyone who would consider interfering from the outside – if you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history,’ he said in the television broadcast around 6am Moscow time.
Metadata of Putin’s declaration of war video shows it was recorded on Monday evening, but only broadcast early Thursday.
At the time, some Russian officials were denying any intention to invade. The Russian armed forces are not inflicting any missile, air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow told RIA Novosti.
Military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields and aviation of the Ukrainian army were being disabled by high-precision weapons, they said. Nothing threatens the civilian population of Ukraine, they claimed. All flights cancelled at Russian airports in Krasnodar, Sochi, and Anapa, close to the Black Sea. Rostov also reported cancelled flights.
Within minutes of Putin’s public address, explosions could be heard in the capital city of Kiev as well as the city of Kramatorsk in central Ukraine, and Odessa in the south.
Across Ukraine, cruise and ballistic missiles were destroying military infrastructure and strategically important facilities, according to unofficial Russian sources.
Mariupol, on the Black Sea 50 miles from the Russian border, appeared to be under fierce attack. Taking this strategic location would give the Donbas republics access to the sea.
The moment Ukraine and the rest of Europe had dreaded for months finally came shortly after 4.35am local time when huge explosions were heard in Kiev and other cities across the country.
Terrified citizens rushed to bomb shelters, though no air raid warnings sounded in the capital – only the frequent muffled crump of missile or air strikes breaking through the pre-dawn stillness.
In Kiev, people were sheltering in basements as the sounds of distant explosions became a constant backdrop.
Within an hour Russians special force and airborne troops were reported to be on the ground at Kiev’s Boryspil Airport, amid fierce fighting.
A woman in the Ukrainian capital said: ‘I was woken by a friend. I am in the centre of Kiev. I hear the sound of distant explosions and ambulance sirens.’
At 7.05am the first air raid sirens were heard in central Kiev.
A CNN reporter in Kiev reported hearing blasts live on air in the early hours of Thursday morning.
‘I just heard a big bang right here behind me. I’ve never heard anything like it,’ said Matthew Chance, senior international correspondent for the network.
Chance did not want to take any chances and set about putting on his flak jacket and helmet
Chance, located on a balcony in the Ukrainian capital quickly put on his protective headgear
Chance said that he heard between seven and eight explosions and quickly put on his flak jacket and headgear while he continued to report from a balcony in the Ukrainian capital.
‘There are big explosions taking place.
‘I can’t see them or explain what they are.
‘But I will tell you the U.S has warned the Ukrainian authorities there could be air strikes and ground attacks as well around the country, including the capital.
‘I don’t know if that’s what’s occurring now but it’s a remarkable coincidence that the explosions come just minutes after Putin gave his speech,’ Chance explained.
‘This is the first time we’ve heard anything. It has been absolutely silent. This is the first time. It has to be more than just a coincidence. I think it’s safe where I am. I have a flak jacket,’ Chance remarked, before ducking down to put on his protective gear.
He suggested that the blasts he heard in the Ukrainian capital were still some distance away from the center.
‘It was so quiet in Ukraine tonight up until those explosions,’ Chance explained.
The blasts came within minutes of Putin saying Russia would conduct a military operation in eastern Ukraine. Explosions could also be heard from Ukraine in the Russian city of Belgorod.
Putin earlier this week said he wanted to take the major Azov Sea Port of Mariupol, which handles 50 percent Ukraine’s steel and mineral exports.