Following weeks of escalating tensions as Moscow positioned over 150,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders, Putin recognized the two regions’ independence on Monday and ordered Russian troops there for “peacekeeping.”
The U.N. Security Council met in New York in an emergency meeting as Putin then announced he had ordered Russian forces to protect the civilians and urged the Ukrainian military to lay down their arms.
As the United States awaited an invasion it had predicted for weeks, President Joe Biden expressed his prayers for Ukraine’s people “as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack”, while promising tough sanctions in response.
“I will be meeting with the leaders of the G7, and the United States and our allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia,” Biden said in a statement.
NATO’s eastward expansion has been criticized by Russia, and Vladimir Putin reaffirmed that Ukrainian membership in the U.S.-led Atlantic military alliance is unacceptable.
He said he had authorized military action because Russia was left with no alternative but to defend itself against threats arising from modern Ukraine, an independent democratic state with 44 million citizens.
“Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine,” Putin said. “All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine.“
Putin did not immediately elaborate on the scope of the Russian military operation, but he said: “Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything by force.“
In some cities, explosions have been heard after missiles strike Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Cyberattacks have also been reported nonstop.
In a telephone conversation with Biden, Zelenskiy said that martial law had been declared. (Hmmm–wonder where this might be leading?) A call-up of the reserves took place on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula was seized by Russia in 2014, and pro-Russian rebels have been fighting Ukrainian forces since then in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk. At least 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Russian media reported that three hours after Putin’s order, the Russian defense ministry had destroyed military infrastructure at Ukrainian air bases and degraded their air defenses.
Ukraine’s media reported earlier that military command centers in Kiev and Kharkiv, both in the northeast, had been hit by missiles, while Russian troops landed in Odessa and Mariupol, both in the south.
Russian news agency Interfax reports that separatists under Russian support have launched an offensive against the Ukrainian-controlled town of Shchastia in the east and that explosions have also rocked the breakaway 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.
“President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia,” the U.N. secretary-general told reporters. “In the name of humanity, do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of this century.”
According to Biden, who has previously ruled out putting U.S. troops in Ukraine, Putin was committing a premeditated war that would result in a great deal of human suffering and loss of life.
“Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way,” he said.
