Russia targeting military infrastructure of Ukraine with “high-precision weapons”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, casting aside international condemnation and sanctions.
Putin also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”
“I have taken the decision to carry out a special military operation,” Putin said in a televised address, saying he was forced to act to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine from “genocide” that has been refuted by neutral observers, including the United Nations. Moscow’s plans do not include occupying Ukrainian territory, he stressed.
Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of an invasion.
Russia’s defence ministry has said it is targeting military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with “high-precision weapons”, the country’s state agency RIA citied.
Ukraine declares emergency
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law and urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic. He also said Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure.
The Ukrainian armed forces said in a statement that Russian military began “intensive shelling” of its units in the east of the country. Russia also launched missile strikes on Boryspil airport near Kyiv and several other airports, the statement said.
Biden and allies say they will impose severe sanctions
U.S. President Joe Biden condemned the attack as “unprovoked and unjustified”. Biden also spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, and briefed him on the steps being taken “to rally international condemnation”. Zelensky “asked me to call on the leaders of the world to speak out clearly against President Putin’s flagrant aggression, and to stand with the people of Ukraine”, Biden adds.
The US president says he will be meeting with G7 leaders on Thursday, and the US and allies “will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia”.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is “appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine” and that Russian President Putin “has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack”.
