Russia has begun full-scale military onslaught in Ukrainian major cities, launching attacks from Belarus and Crimea, as a ploy to finally invade the country.
This was as President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, February 24, announced a military operation in Ukraine, warning other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”
Putin who accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees, claimed that Russia’s goal was not to occupy Ukraine.
The Russian President also said the attack was needed to protect civilians in Eastern Ukraine, a claim the U.S. had predicted he would falsely make to justify an invasion.
Explosions were heard in several Ukrainian cities within hours of the Russian leader’s announcement that he’d ordered military action in the country’s east.
Read also: Tension mounts over Russia’s Possible Invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on his official page that “peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes” and called the situation “a war of aggression.”
An adviser for the Ukraine Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, told journalists Russia’s “invasion has begun” with “missile strikes on Kyiv,” the capital.
Gerashchenko said troops had landed in the city of Odessa and were crossing the border in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine located in the country’s northeast. In a post on his Facebook page, he also said control centers such as airfields and military headquarters were being hit by shelling in Kyiv and Kharkiv, and that there was artillery fire along the border.
Putin’s announcement, broadcast Thursday at 5 a.m. local time in Ukraine, prompted immediate condemnation from the US and its allies, which have threatened to enact “full scale” sanctions in the event of Russian military action.
In the address, broadcast on Russian national television, Putin urged Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms and go home, saying all responsibility for possible bloodshed will be entirely on the conscience of the Ukrainian government.
But he added: “Our plans are not to occupy Ukraine, we do not plan to impose ourselves on anyone.”
Before the announcement of military action, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed for peace but vowed the country would defend itself.
Zelensky said; “We have no need for another Cold war, or a bloody war, or a hybrid war.
“But if we are attacked militarily, if they try to take away our freedom, our lives, our children’s’ lives, we will defend ourselves. When you attack, you will see our faces and not our spines, our faces.”
Recall that Russia launched attacks on multiple cities in Ukraine on Wednesday evening, a decisive escalation after months of military build-up that stirred dire warnings from the United States and its allies.
Air raid sirens rang out across the central capital of Kyiv and explosions were seen and heard there and in other cities across the country, NBC News reporters on the ground said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law across the country, closing schools, placing hospitals on high alert and telling everyone not involved in crucial infrastructure to stay at home.
Ukraine said that the Russian military was attacking with the help of Belarus, one of Moscow’s only allies. Although Russian troops have been deployed to Belarus for months, NBC News was not immediately able to confirm Belarus’ involvement in the attacks. Ukraine said its troops had returned fire, and it was clarifying information on injuries, its interior ministry said.
The first blasts came just minutes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a public address that he had authorized a military action against Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden denounces the attack
U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine and said the world will “hold Russia accountable.”
Consequences of the attack
A full-blown Russian invasion could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government. And the consequences of the conflict and resulting sanctions levied on Russia could reverberate throughout the world, affecting energy supplies in Europe, jolting global financial markets and threatening the post-Cold War balance on the continent.
A Russian military operation aims to ensure a “demilitarization” of Ukraine. Before Putin’s address, Russia issued a notice banning civil aircraft from flight routes bordering north-eastern Ukraine. Separately, Ukrainian aviation authorities issued a notice restricting Ukrainian airspace in the regions around the capital Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Odessa and Simferopol.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told a security council meeting in New York that a Russian invasion into eastern Ukraine could displace up to five million people.
She said an invasion could cause famine in other countries with a rise in bread prices expected given Russia and Ukraine produce around 30 percent of wheat exports globally.
She said: ‘Russia’s actions could cause a spike in food prices and lead to even more desperate hunger in places like Libya, Yemen and Lebanon.
‘The tidal waves of suffering this war will cause are unthinkable.’
Her warning came before explosions were heard in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, mounting fears that shelling is underway.
UN asks Russia to stop the attack
The United Nations has asked Russian president to stop attacking Ukraine.
This comes as an emergency Security council meeting was held on Thursday morning, February 24 in the United Nations General assembly in New York on the request of Ukraine and the US after Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine early Thursday February 24th.
Now, the UN secretary general has urged Putin to bring back his troops to Russia and stop “what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century.”
“This is the saddest moment in my tenure as Secretary General of the United Nations,” Guterres began.
Guterres warned Putin that Russian military action could not only be “devastating for Ukraine” and “tragic” for Russia “but with an impact we can not even foresee in relation to their consequences for the global economy.”
“In a moment when we are emerging from Covid and so many developing countries absolutely need to have space for the recovery, which would be very, very difficult with the high prices of oil, with the exports of wheat from Ukraine and with rising interest rates caused by instability in international markets,” he added.
“This conflict must stop now”
“Please stop attacking Ukraine.”
