Monitoring Desk:
Russia launched a full-scale military operation against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, the Russian President announced the war with explosions heard on Thursday morning after the announcement. This prompted US President Joe Biden who warned of “catastrophic loss of life”.
Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” he said in a surprise statement on television shortly before 6 am (0300 GMT). Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to consequences they have never seen.
Putin warns other countries
He accused the United States and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demands to stop Ukraine from joining Nato and offer Moscow security guarantees. He said he wanted a “demilitarisation” of the former Soviet state but not its occupation. Putin said all Ukrainian servicemen who lay down arms will be able to safely leave the zone of combat.
“All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine,” Putin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky enacts martial law
As air raid sirens rang out across Kyiv early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky moved to enact martial law and government ministers accused Moscow of launching a “full-scale invasion.” As dawn broke, heavy traffic could be seen clogging roads heading west out of the city, while further east, near the Russian border, the mayor of Kharkiv urged citizens not to leave their homes.
