Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday. Thus, warning that any attempt by other countries to interfere would result in “consequences they have never seen.”
He claimed that the attack was necessary to protect people in eastern Ukraine. It is a justification that the US had warned he would make to justify an invasion.
Putin accused the US and its allies of neglecting Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and providing Moscow with security guarantees in a televised address. Russia’s purpose, he stressed, was not to occupy Ukraine.
Explosions reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other parts of Ukraine
President of the United States, Joe Biden, has condemned Russia’s “unprovoked and unjustified” aggression on Ukraine. Thus, saying that the world will “hold Russia accountable.”
Large explosions were likewise reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other parts of Ukraine as Putin spoke.
A full-fledged Russian invasion would likely result in catastrophic bloodshed and the overthrow of Ukraine’s democratically elected government. The conflict’s ramifications, including the sanctions imposed on Russia, might echo around the world. Hence, impacting European energy supplies, jolting global financial markets, and jeopardizing the continent’s post-Cold War equilibrium.
According to him, the Russian military operation intends to demilitarize Ukraine. “Immediately put down arms and go home,” Putin said, urging Ukrainian servicemen.
Putin announced the military operation after the Kremlin stated that rebels in eastern Ukraine had asked military assistance from Russia to help them combat Ukrainian “aggression”. The announcement stoked suspicions that Moscow was using the revelation as a pretext for conflict, as the West had warned.
A short time later, Ukraine’s president dismissed Moscow’s allegations that his country is a threat to Russia. Thereby, claiming that a Russian invasion would result in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
Putin refuses to take call from Ukraine President
“The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an emotional overnight address. He was also speaking in Russian in a direct appeal to Russian citizens. “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 said he requested a call with Putin late Wednesday but received no response from the Kremlin.
“This step could mark the start of a big war on the European continent,” Zelensky said. Thus, referring to Putin’s decision to approve the deployment of Russian military forces in eastern Ukraine to “maintain peace.”
“Any provocation, any spark could trigger a blaze that will destroy everything,” he said.
“You are told that this blaze will bring freedom to the people of Ukraine,” he said, also contradicting Russian propaganda. “But the Ukrainian people are free.”
False-Flag
At Ukraine’s request, the United Nations Security Council convened an emergency meeting on Wednesday night. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, described the insurgents’ demands as “a further escalation of the security situation.”
Anxiety about a possible Russian invasion against its neighbor grew after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the separatist areas’ independence on Monday. He supported troop deployment to the rebel territory and got the legislative authority to employ military force outside the country. The West retaliated with sanctions.
The rebel chiefs then wrote to Putin on Wednesday, asking him to help after Ukrainian shelling killed civilians and ruined essential infrastructure, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The separatists’ plea for Russian assistance, White House press secretary Jen Psaki says, is an example of the type of “false-flag” operation. The US and its allies have expected Moscow to it employ as a pretext for war.
“So we’ll continue to call out what we see as false-flag operations or efforts to spread misinformation about what the actual status is on the ground,” she said.
State of Emergency
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian lawmakers approved a decree declaring a state of emergency across the country for 30 days beginning Thursday. In the “interests of national security and public order,” the measure authorizes authorities to declare curfews and other movement restrictions, stop gatherings and ban political parties and groups.
Following weeks of attempting to portray calm, the action indicated growing worry among Ukrainian authorities. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry advised against visiting Russia and asked any Ukrainians who were already there to leave immediately.
“For a long time, we refrained from declaring a state of emergency … but today the situation has become more complicated,“ Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council head Oleksiy Danilov told parliament. He emphasized that Moscow’s efforts to destabilize Ukraine represented the main threat.
The Russian force of more than 150,000 troops stationed near Ukraine’s borders, according to Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, is at a high level of preparedness. “Right now, they’re ready to go,” Kirby added.
Russian troops and military equipment have been positioned within 10 miles of the Ukrainian border; less than 50 miles of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, as per the newest pictures supplied by the Maxar satellite imaging business.
Attacks
According to a warning to airmen, all of Ukraine’s airspace had closed to civilian air traffic early Thursday. An Israeli El Al Boeing 787 flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto unexpectedly exited Ukrainian airspace before detouring across Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland, according to a commercial flight tracking service. The only other aircraft visible over Ukraine was an RQ-4B Global Hawk unmanned surveillance plane from the United States. It began flying westward early Thursday when Russia imposed flight restrictions over Ukrainian territory.
On Wednesday, a new round of distributed denial-of-service attacks targeted Ukraine’s parliament, as well as other government and financial websites, according to cybersecurity experts. Unidentified attackers reportedly infected hundreds of devices with damaging software, according to analysts.
Officials have long predicted that cyberattacks would precede and accompany any Russian military entry. Analysts said the incidents followed a nearly two-decade-old Russian playbook of combining cyber operations with physical aggression.
In other news, Russia has evacuated its embassy in Kyiv; Ukraine has recalled its ambassador to Russia and is considering cutting all diplomatic ties with Moscow; dozens of countries have further isolated Russian oligarchs and banks from global markets.
The beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine
President Joe Biden approved penalties against the business that developed the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, and the company’s CEO.
“As I have made clear, we will not hesitate to take further steps if Russia continues to escalate,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden said that Putin had initiated “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” by moving troops into separatist regions. After that, Germany announced Tuesday that the project would be suspended indefinitely. The pipeline is finished but not yet operational.
Contrary to Western assertions, Putin indicated Tuesday that he had not yet dispatched any Russian forces into the rebel districts. Donetsk rebel commander Denis Pushilin insisted Wednesday that there were no Russian troops in the region. Although a local council member claimed they had moved in the day before.
Already, the specter of war has wreaked havoc on Ukraine’s economy, threatening large casualties, European energy shortages, and worldwide economic catastrophe.
Sanctions against Russia were imposed by the European Union. They targeted several firms as well as 351 Russian legislators who voted in favor of a motion encouraging Putin to recognize the rebel territories. It also aimed at 27 prominent government officials, corporate executives, and high military personnel.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has dismissed the sanctions, claiming that “Russia has proven that, with all the costs of the sanctions, it is able to minimize the damage.”
Military operation
According to the Ukrainian military, rebel shelling in Ukraine’s east resulted in the death of one Ukrainian soldier and the wounding of six others. Separatist officials reported three civilian deaths and multiple blasts in their area overnight.
Faced with a barrage of condemnation at the United Nations General Assembly, Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, told Ukraine that Russia will monitor a cease-fire in the east. Also, “no one intends to go softly, softly with any violators.”
“A new military adventure” by Kyiv “might cost the whole of Ukraine very dearly,” he warned ominously.
Putin’s actions this week substantially elevated the stakes after weeks of growing tensions. He declared the separatist areas’ independence. He claims they extend to vast sections of the territories now held by Ukrainian forces. Also, he asked parliament to give him the ability to employ military action outside the country.
Putin outlined three requirements for ending the impasse; Kyiv’s withdrawal from NATO, partial demilitarization, and recognition of Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow acquired from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine has rejected such requests long ago.
